Dragon Quest VIII: The Gamer
by SkyRune
Summary: The Scepter hidden within the Castle of Trodain has been stolen. Its King and Princess have been Cursed. And our young Hero has found a clue that will lead to the Family that he never knew he had. By the Will of the Goddess, may your Journey be safe. Decided to make a Dragon Quest with the RPG feel.
1. Prologue: The Curse and a Blessing

_**A...scepter...**_

 _ **...sealed...away...**_

 **-0-**

"-ake...-rake...You need to wake up, Drake! Father is expecting me at the castle soon and your guard shift begins as well" a voice beside me said as I could feel them trying to wake me by shaking my body. Still groggy from the nap that I took, the sun beating down on me was not helping. Moving myself into a sitting position, I rub the sleep from my eyes as they begin to focus on my surroundings.

"Finally, you're up. I was beginning to worry if I had to have Munchie wake you. He is probable the only one, Human or Mouse, that can actually wake you" a melodious voice spoke above me with a slight chuckle at the thought of my mouse trying to wake me up the usual way that he could; by biting me all over my face. The experience is painful and unpleasant, unless you're my friend and watches the show from the sides.

Speaking of my friend, I look up to see her shake most of the grass and dirt off her deep blue cape that she used as a make-shift picnic blanket. She was also mindful not to get any dirt on her red and white dress; what with being a Princess and all. Finally wide awake, I jumped onto my feet and begin to stretch out all of the cricks that made their way into me before facing the Princess. "I'm sorry about that, your Highness. It was just a nice out today and I wanted to be awake for the night shift later on."

The Princess had a small frown before it vanished with her usual smile. "Now Drake, I know I've told you to just call me Medea instead of 'Princess' or 'Your Highness', have I not? I understand that you need to show the proper respect for when we are back at the castle or even in the town, but it is just the two of us here" she stated as she twirled around to show me that it really was just us on this side of the lake.

From our current position I would take about an hour to get back to the main gate towards the town and an extra thirty minutes to maneuver our way through town to the castle. I suppose that we should have left some time ago but I wonder why Princess Medea didn't wake me up on time to escort her back. I suppose that is just one of her whims. "Forgive me, Princess Medea, it is just that there are only a few times where we can just be ourselves that I have more than likely made it as a habit. I will try to work on it the next time that we are alone together" I chuckle and scratch the back of my head at the request that she has made of me. If her father, King Trode, had heard this he would tie bricks of stone to me and cast me over the cliff for the sea monsters to snack on.

She sighed at my statement but didn't rebuttal it as she knew that there were scarce moments for when we both had any free time and this being the first in two months. Where if I was on day rest she would be with her Tutors; Or when she had a day off from studying I would be out in practicing the Captain of the Guard or cleaning pots and pans for the night's dinner. She had thought of a plan this morning to have an entire day to ourselves; the Princess had suggested visiting the town for an 'inspection' as she had told her father. When he said it may take time to organize a squad for her, she quickly stated that she didn't want to cause a fuse for the castle staff, Knights or the town's people and recommend having a Soldier accompany her and that she would not leave the town gates. Not wanting to disappoint his only daughter, he agreed with the promise that she would return to castle before sunset.

After thanking and hugging her father for her selfish request, she had rushed to the barracks to retrieve her friend and they were on their way to the gates of the castle town. Feeling slightly guilty for lying to her father, this was one of the only chances that she and I could spend time together when not surrounded by the castle staff. Now that it was getting late in the afternoon, we had to make our way back. She kneeled down to pick up a few books off the ground before putting her cape back on. Doing the same, I picked up both my sword and leather shield from the tree beside us for our return trip. Looking back over my shoulder to see if Medea was ready, she nodded and we began our walk back to Castle Trodain.

To get back, we had to go through a small thicket of trees to reach the main road and to follow the Town wall to reach the Southern Gate. This was the fastest way back that didn't cause a lot of strain on the Princess and we could avoid most if not all monsters in the area. Making sure to move the tree branches out of her way, we had arrived at the main road in little under ten minutes. Once Medea is out of the thicket, we continued to make small talk to pass the time.

"So, what was your dream about?" the Princess asked me while petting Munchie that I had taken out of my pocket for her to play with. With a quick scan of our surroundings for any monster activity, I turn to her a say "Nothing that would seem important. The only thing that really stuck out to me was some kind of scepter and a woman's voice." this statement had caught her by surprise and she tried to recover before I could see, but she wasn't quick enough to hide her worry. "Is something wrong, your Highness?" I asked concerned at the expression she was making.

She sees me and shakes her head before patting her checks to ease the situation. Once she had calmed down, the Princess looks back at me with a renewed smile "I'm fine, I'm fine. Sorry about that, I was thinking about the new trade agreement that we are trying to get with the Elf Nation in the Western Continent when you said about dreaming of a scepter. They are remarkable craftsmen that Father wants to have come to Trodain but they are very wary of Humans and it reminded me of some stories of men entering the nation only to vanish without anyone remembering them."

I looked at her to see if she was that afraid of the Elves. I had heard some rumors about Elves and their culture only through passing merchants and the occasional visitors in the town. Some of the rumors were outlandish while others were concerning, but there was no physical proof that could make them actual fact. I continued to stare at Medea to see if that was what she was so scared of. My mind told me that it was a concern, but not what had caused her immediate reaction from when I had told her about my dream. Sighing, I decided to let the matter drop for now and resume our walk back home. Deciding to be a little bold, I reach out my Hand towards her and wait for her to grab it. It took a full minute for the action to sink in, and Medea grabbed my hand softly. She had a slight blush covering her checks at what I was doing, but I decided long ago to not embarrass her about it. Not many people can get away with touching the Princess; the sole exceptions being her Father and Ladies in waiting. She never had enough interactions with the opposite gender since they were either twice her age or looking out the window from the castle to see the towns people, this moment being the most physical interaction that she has had with anyone other than her immediate family.

 **-0-**

They both had remained in silence while holding hands for the rest of the trip towards the southern gate. When they had arrived, they let go of each other's hands for now that they had to resume the roles that they were born into; a Princess and servant turned soldier. Passing the gate and into the busy streets of Trodain. The ground is paved with stone as far as the eye can see and the house set with brick for both maintenance and design. The towns people were rushing back and forth to acquire the ingredients for both tonight and tomorrows meal. The population of Trodain was only a few thousand, but it is steadily increasing every year with King Trodes plan for expansion of the town and fields. Looking for one of the few paths that we could take to quickly get back, I turned to the Princess putting her books back in her leather satchel while Munchie on her shoulder nibbling on a chunk of cheese.

"In order to not cause a fuss with the town's people, I suggest that you raise the hood to cover your face and stick close to me until we reach the Castle Gate. Would that be alright?" I asked as she was already putting her hood up. Sticking close to my back, we weave past a few of the town's people and several guards through the back alleys. Growing up in both the castle and the town has its own advantages; being forced to make deliveries for the castle, one has to know where to go unless you wished to be punished for being late. That was a lesson I had to learn fast when I was a child. Spending no more than twenty seconds at each street corner, we made our way to the gates just as the sun hit the horizon. The guards stationed there looked to use with suspicion until I showed them my ID; a bronze badge with the Trodain Emblem stating my rank and position. They saluted to me and opened one of the side doors with their keys. Stepping inside, we made our way past the guards stationed at the castle wall and into the Gardens. There we could see the Castle of Trodain, One of the most beautiful pieces of architecture built since the construction of Savella Cathedral.

The castle was built on the edge of a cliff to force enemy nations of the past to attack by land and with the construction of the town, the defense had only improved over the two centuries. From a military perspective, it would be able to withstand a siege for several months before resulting to actual combat. But in these peaceful times, that would no longer be an issue and would hopefully become nothing more than a history lesson. Once we had arrived at the castle front doors, Medea removed her hood and spun around to face me; making a subtle hand gesture to inform the princess that there were several guards making the rounds near our location, a kneeled to the ground placing my fist over my heart. "The Inspection Mission is Complete and you have returned safely, Your Highness" I said to Medea as she knew that someone would be watching and needed to be careful not to show favoritism.

She nodded at the silent message "Thank you, kind soldier. I shall send a letter to the Captain about today's pay. You are dismissed until further orders are issued". She lifted the side of her dress and curtsied before entering the castle. Just as she had entered past the doors, she reached into her satchel and kneeled to the ground quickly before any of the servants passing by saw her. Waiting for the door to finally close, I could hear a small scuffing against the ground. Looking upwards slightly, I could see Munchie running as fast as his body could to reach me. Chuckling at the sight, I extend my hand for him to climb on so to place back in my side pocket that he decided to call home. Once getting off of the found and shaking the dust off, I make my way to the barracks and change into uniform for the night shift. ' _Today wasn't so bad. I got to go outside of the Town, have a picnic, take a nap and spend some time with the princess. The only downside would be is that I won't get to bed until 3 in the morning_ ' I said to myself as I was passing by some of the gardeners to reach my destination. Upon entering the side door of the castle, I came across a black haired man dressed in a very colorful outfit, looking around for something. "Do you need help with something, sir?" I asked knowing that this happens from time to time as visitors get lost in the castle.

Turning around to face me, I felt a chill run down my back as I saw his smile. "It's such a pity; I seem to have lost my way around when looking for the Banquet Hall. Do you perhaps know where that may be, child" he said in a sickening sweet tone that made me shiver at it. This tone was condescending and that the man standing here did not even see me as a living being, let alone human. Trying to leap my breath steady, I began to answer his question "If you head through this door and follow the hallway, you will enter the throne room. Once there, ask a guard to escort you to the rooms behind the throne. The Banquet Hall is the last room on the right hand side". I walk over to said door and open it for this guest. The sooner he left the better in my opinion. I can barely breathe with this menacing vibe coming off of this guest. He looks at me with that sickening smile and begins a light chuckled.

"I suppose I should give you my thanks, but only if your information proves to be accurate. Such a pity that I won't be able to thank you in person" the colorful man stated as he walked through the door towards his destination. After he had entered the hallway, I waited several seconds before slowly closing it and falling towards the floor. Trying to catch my breath, some of the guards from the upper floor walk down to see me clutching my chest. They run to me to check if I needed medical attention. "I'm...I'm alright, I just...just need to catch my breath" I stated huffing at every breath to steady myself. "Are you sure, we can take you to your shift if you like. You don't look well" one of the guards asked. I shook my head "Thank you for the offer but I'm fine. Instead, could one of you follow a man in a rather colorful attire heading to the Banquet Hall and the other to report to the Captain? I don't know what, but that man who was just here gave me the impression that he is not here just tonight's entertainment". Hearing this, one of the guards took off to catch up with this Entertainer while the other brought me back to my room and then headed off to find the Captain. After calming down from that experience, I changed out of my servants garb and into my soldier uniform which consist of a long gray coat with an iron chest plate, sturdy leather boots and a bronze helmet.

Once all of my equipment has been inspected, I grab my bag for some of the leftover food from the afternoon. "Munchie, sorry but I have work tonight. You can either stay here ant eat the rest of this cheese wheel Princess Medea got for us or you can keep me company through the night" I said looking for that dried meat I had saved. Looking at my desk, I can see the mouse looking between me and the bag full of food. I always found it funny when I asked this because if usually the mouse would scamper away with whatever food it could find. Munchie however always looked conflicted of having to choose either me or his favorite food. After a small debate with himself, he jumped off the desk and came to my boot. Laughing lightly, I picked him up and placed him in one of the coats pockets. After finishing the dried meat I sliced two pieces of cheese, one for me and the other for Munchie, and walked towards the guard station to date my time and switch with the current guard.

 **-0-**

Several hours have past and the moon was reaching its peak. After securing both the Library and the Watch Tower, I had made my way to the castles top balcony to watch out for any Drackmas or Chimeras for aerial assaults. Pulling out the last dried meat I had on hand, I split it in half to give to my mouse in case he was hungry. Chewing on the meat, I perform a few stretches to keep myself awake till the shift change. During the middle of one exercise, I heard the large doors creak open. I'm sure that the guards know that the castle is not to be opened when his Majesty has gone to bed. Even the guests are not allowed out of their quarters and the guards are who due the shift change never goes through the front door. Drawing my blade, I slowly approach the edge of the balcony to peer over. What I saw was the same man I met earlier this evening holding what appears to be a large cane.

I couldn't hear what he was saying due to the distance from where he and I were. I tensed when he lifted the cane above his head and it started to glow a light red hue. Not liking what sort of magic he was using, I pulled out my whistle to summon the rest of the guard. Unfortunately, I would never get the chance to summon my friends of arms.

" **aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!** " a scream had filled the air surrounding the castle before hundreds of thorns shot up into the sky. "WHAT THE HELL!" I scream and dodge several thorns coming straight for me during the process. Their speed outmatches even the fastest Frizz spell from our court magician could muster. When I tried to slice one of the incoming thorns, my sword could only hold it for two seconds before it broke in half, the separate blade flying off into the air. When I tried to fall back, I failed to take into account of incoming attacks from behind and one had punctured through my armor. But that wasn't the problem; the major problem was that it had penetrated straight through my own chest. The thorns are still moving which is causing me even more pain then I could originally bear. I'm bleeding so much that there is a small puddle forming around me. I can't even scream from the pain. It felt like this agony would last forever when the thorns suddenly had stopped moving. My vision is becoming blurry from the blood loss. I think I'm losing my mind because I hear laughter from down below. Then a bright light shot up and I feared that the same curse or spell was being cast again, I try to shut my eyes but even trying that hurt much. Apparently the pain never came as the light remained stationary several hundred meters in the air before flying off eastward.

"I...I don...I don't know...if this...was a...blessing or hell...Please, Dear Goddess" I wheezed out as I cough up blood. "Keep...His Majesty...and...Medea...safe..." I say this small prayer to the Goddess to at least keep them safe from what has happened this night. The last thing I saw was the starry sky before blacking out.

 **-0-**

I don't know how long I have been floating in this black Abyss; it could be days or months for all I know. The only thing that I knew was that I was all alone. I curl up into a ball and just wait for judgment to come for me. Even if I am to be condemned to hell, I can only hope that King Trode and Medea made it out of that curse alive somehow.

 _ **A scepter spoken of in Lore,**_

My head shoots up with surprise at the sudden voice echoing around the empty space. Scanning around and not seeing anyone, I put it that my mind is finally playing tricks on me.

 _ **And sealed away since days of yore,**_

"Who is there?" I said out loud for them to hear me but I'm too exhausted to search for the owner of this voice. When it didn't reply, I rest my head against my knees to ease the tension plaguing my mind. Replaying the events that happen over in my head, I recall that the Man who had caused my death never had that cane when I met him.

 _ **Unleashes its forbidden power,**_

"If you going to play tricks on me then do it and get it over with. I don't care what you do, I'm too tired to play anything right now" I half yelled out of frustration. ' _What does it mean forbidden power? I've been to the Royal Vaults and there wasn't anything like that within them_ ' I thought thinking over all of the items that I had to categorize from taxes to basic weaponry and nothing stuck out at me.

 _ **And heralds Trodains darkest hour.**_

After that sentence, every just shut down at trying to comprehend what the voice had just said. "No...Your lying...Trodain is one of the strongest kingdoms in the entire world...It couldn't have fallen in just a single night...It couldn't..." I said to myself and having a mild breakdown. Trodain has stood its ground against every other nation for centuries. For it to fall to one man in a single night is not possible. I'm breathing so hard that my chest is hurting and tears are building up in my eyes. I shut everything else around me out; but since there isn't anything it was easy to do. I remained in my position as tears were falling to the non-existent ground. After what felt like hours, I had calmed down enough to ask this mysterious voice a question. "Why am I here?"

 _ **If you so desire, would you go back?**_

I waited to see if the voice would either continue to speak or not. When it didn't, I gave it my replied without any hesitation. "Yes."

 _ **Then accept my Blessing, and I shall send you to where you belong.**_

By either my own delusion or magic, a white translucent flat box appeared before me. On the edges of the box had feather like design etchings that surrounded its border. There were several words upon it that read:

 **You have been chosen by the Goddess to receive her blessing "Divine Body". By Accepting this, the User shall live His/her life as a ?**

 **Yes No**

Seeing this came from the Goddess herself or my mind was replaced with a Trolls, I lifted my hand slowly to touch the floating box. To my own surprise, it was solid and hard like another crate you see around town. I hesitated at the realization but if I could back, I would gladly accept the consequences that my actions will have if I could save the man who took me into his home and the girl who helped me see the world for what it could be. I pushed the 'Yes' and the world that was once black began to shine a bright light. I figured that I was dreaming because the last thing I saw was a woman with white hair and large wings.

 **-0-**

I wake up with shock at the agonizing pain in my chest while taking in as much air as my lungs can take. After several moments of calming myself down from my 'death', I look to my surrounding and to my surprise I am still within Castle Trodain in the balcony where I was skewered. Looking behind me I could see two thorn branches that would have been connected if my body was still placed there with the puddle of my blood still beneath it. I slowly bring my hand to my chest and wince at the scarred star-shaped wound that somehow had closed itself; now only being a tender area. Ripping off the now useless armor, I was now only dressed in white cotton pants. I hear a slight squeak from when I threw my coat to the ground. Remembering who that was, I quickly went back down to retrieve my old friend.

"Sorry! Sorry, Munchie. I forgot that you were in my pocket" I stated as I moved him out of the coat and into my hand. I could see that the little mouse was angry for having been thrown around but his angry look was replaced with as emotion that even I didn't know what it was. He just kept staring at me not like he would with cheese but something almost as close to it. "Anyway, sorry about that but we need to get back inside and see what has happened to the castle, alright?" I stated while getting back on my two feet. Munchie still did not utter a sound so I took that as a yes and placed him on my shoulder for the time being. Looking at the two doors before me, the one that I had originally came from was now covered in thorns so my only course of action is to head into the main corridor of the 3rd floor.

Once I reached the door, there were several thorn branches covering the door but was not as bad as the other path. Using what was left of my sword, I began to cut the vines off to allow me entry in to the castle. It is a slow process but I am making progress. It took a good ten minutes to chip my way through before I could open the door. What is saw inside made me vomit what little food I had in my stomach out on the floor. Before me was several servants all standing perfectly still with horror struck faces. Their skin a deathly pale green and their limbs were gone and replaced with thorns. I ran out of the as fast as possible to escape the scene only to see more servants and even guards in the same predicament.

"Hell….this is Hell…" I whispered to myself as slowly made my towards the end of the hallway Avoiding the thorn branches every now and then, I come to the staircase leading to the second floor and Royal Bedrooms. This particular wing is off limits to all but; the Royal Family, Captain of the Guard and the Elite Knights. Even the servants must be escorted by at least two Knights before entering this Wing. From what I have seen, no one had even been able to leave their rooms, let alone the castle. I clenched my fist so tightly while holding the broken blade that it began to bleed.

I turned towards the staircase when I felt the wind blow against my exposed back. I turned around to see that the door leading to the Royal Wing was slowly opening by itself due to the small breeze. Knowing that no this particular door is always locked and guarded by the Knights, now I see that it is left unlocked and no Knights posted on either side of the door. I decided to at least see what if the Princess was at least sleeping and not in agony like the rest of the Castle occupants. Pushing the door open, I could see more than ten Knights in the Wing but the strange thing was that every last one of them was on the ground. All of their weapons were even unsheathed, which made me question as to why the Knights would even draw their weapons. Following the trail of petrified bodies, I came to a semi open door far larger then even the front door of the castle. ' _Now why would they be storming this room?_ ' I thought to myself as I pushed the door open. When I got through, I could see that it lead to a staircase to ascend to another floor.

"-lp! Is anyone there! Please, we require assistance! Help!" a shrill voice echoed across the thorn filled stair case. I know that voice any and sprinted up the staircase as fast as possible and yelling out "YOUR MAJESTY!"

"EH! IS SOMEONE OUT THERE! DAUGHTER, THERE IS SOMEONE OUT THERE! HELP!" the King echoed even louder now that he knew someone was coming to rescue them. Before I could enter the room, the entrance was blocked by multiple layers of thorns. "Your Majesty! Princess! Please hold on a little bit longer! It may take some time to cut my way through but will get you both out!" I yelled out, not knowing how thick the thorns are here. Either way, I began the task of chopping the thorns one vine at a time regardless of how long it would take.

"I thank you, young man. Might I inquire who are rescuer might and what has become of the Castle?" King Trode asked as to know what has happened since he was imprisoned in this room. I stopped my progress as to how I could explain this. There is no easy way to word it so the best course would be to tell the truth. "My name is Eldrake, Soldier Second Class and as to answer your other question…it may be better to show you and the Princess what has happened, Your Majesty" I said in a somber tone. At the sound of the Princess's Title, I heard what I could only describe as a horses neighing. That caused me to stumble to ask "Was that a horse?!"

"I will explain what has happened, just continue to rescue us" His Majesty insisted and I agreed. It took more time then the door, but I have made it half way through the thorns in the outline of a door. My whole body is drenched in sweat after going at this for so long, but my task is almost complete. "Your Majesty, I'm going to make an entrance through the thorns. Please try to move as far as you and the Princess can away from my position. When you are in a safe position, let me know so that I may begin" I heard a few pitter patters and clopping sounds move a little away from my position. "Alright, my boy, you may proceed" I heard the King answered. I re moved Munchie from my shoulder for the next step as this would require his ability. "Hey Munchie, could you give me some fire?" I asked him but he was still looking at me with that same odd look. "Munchie?" I called again and that seemed to shake him out of whatever trance he was in. He looked around to see the thorn covered entrance. He puffed out his chest and the next thing I know hot fire was coming out of Munchies mouth heading straight for the thorns. This was the one ability that I have discovered by accident and it nearly burned the entire kitchen down.

When Munchie ran out of breath, I began to kick at the outline to make a new entrance for the King and Princess. After several tries and a pair of burnt boots, I was able to get in. but who I found was not who I was expecting. The occupants of this room were a smallish troll in an orange cloak and a white mare with a blue saddle. We were all staring at each other before I collapsed to the floor from exhaustion; both physically and mentally."I'm losing my goddess dammed mind. I'm seeing a troll and a horse inside the tallest room of the castle" I had to laugh at the sheer madness that was happening tonight.

"Unfortunately, what you are seeing is what that dammed Jester did to me and my precious Medea. And WHO ARE YOU CALLING A TROLL, YOU FRILLY-EARED SERVANT" the troll like midget spoke in the same shrill voice that I have come to know the king by. "YOUR MAJE-frilly eared?" my shock vanished quickly at the name that he gave me. I have been called a lot of things but that was new. Wondering what he was talking about, I reached up to feel my ears when I felt them much bigger then what they should be. It only got worse when I heard a bell ring.

 **Mission Complete:**

 **Locate King Trode and Princess Medea before Sunrise**

 **Bonus Objective:**

 **Make sure that both the King and Princess were not Harmed during the Rescue**

 **Reward:**

 **2000 Exp, 4 Gold Pieces, Monsters do not Enter Trodain until you leave the Castle Town Gate**

 **Bonus Reward:**

 **Dragon Scale Accessory**

 **Your Level has increased by 3**

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?" I yelled out while still holding onto my ears.

 **-0-**

 _ **Your Quest has begun!**_


	2. Chapter 1: Tutorial

**Authors Note: I would like to thank you all for reading this story and actually leaving a review. And a special thanks to Spear-of-the-doomed, monkeygun99 and Saint of vice koncor for being the first to review. Now please enjoy.**

 **-0-**

"So I'm not dreaming. This box is still here and my ears have changed" I said to myself as I look back and forth from the small stand mirror and the floating white box that still read:

 **Mission Complete:**

 **Locate King Trode and Princess Medea before Sunrise**

 **Bonus Objective:**

 **Make sure that both the King and Princess were not Harmed during the Rescue**

 **Reward:**

 **2000 Exp, 4 Gold Pieces, Monsters do not Enter Trodain until you leave the Castle Town Gate**

 **Bonus Reward:**

 **Dragon Scale Accessory**

 **Your Level has increased by 3**

After my melt down, His Majesty had tried to calm me down the only way he knew how; by beating me over the head. How he is able to jump two feet in the air and smack me back into the ground is something of a wonder. When I finally got my face off of the ground, King Trode and Her Highness were waiting for me by the entrance to escort them out of the room. But when we reached the bottom of the staircase, their reactions were only what I could expect.

"MY SUBJECTS!? MY KNIGHTS!? MY KINGDOM!?" were the Kings reactions to when he saw the people lying on the ground with plant like appendages and the thorn covered vines covering all over the castle. Medea could only stand there with a look of horror as she was unable to voice it, due to the curse placed upon her. It took some time for the information to sink in before I suggested I brought them to their bed chambers as it was still the middle of the night.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness, but you need your rest. I will go into town at dawn and report if anything has happened to the people" I did not get a reply as I saw both of them just sit on the floor of the now cold stone. Not seeing them move, I quietly left the chamber and made my way back to the barracks. Even the friends that I had made over the years were not saved from this as some had taken fighting positions while others tried to protect the servants from the thorns; none were safe from the curse. Deciding to reach my bed for what little sleep I could muster, I could only hope that this was a nightmare that I will wake up from.

Unfortunately, when I awoke nothing had changed. Moving myself towards my desk for the mirror that laid onto, I need to see if my ears had really changed. When I had looked, beneath several strands of brown hair were my ears that now extended past their normal height. The color had changed slightly to a light brown where the frills were located; them being at the tip of my ears heading down towards my lobe. I touched them and they did not feel any different from before, just a bit longer now. Placing the stand mirror down, I finally give my attention to the white box. Having no idea what this is, I examine it in greater detail know that I have calmed down. The words were still the same several hours ago and the design was still that of lightly etched feather border. Following the border to the outer most edge, I could see a light colored ' **X** ' in the corner. Deciding that nothing worse could happen, I braced myself and pressed it. To my surprise, it vanished into small particles of light and moved towards my new scar on my chest.

Feeling nothing, I assumed that was how I could make these boxes disappear from my vision. "What exactly are you?" I could only say from all of the madness that has happened. Moving to my trunk for a spare set of clothes, I decided t wear my servant garb; Orange bandana tied around my head, tanned long pants, leather boots and a long blue sleeved shirt. Everything else that I had was either in the servant's quarter to be washed or ruined from the night's events. Picking up Munchie from the dresser, we made our way towards the kitchen to see if we can salvage any food to make. Taking a detour every now and then to avoid tripping on the vines or running into a servant, Munchie and I arrived in front of the Kitchen. Pushing the doors open, I could see several chefs in the same position from everyone else in the caste. Even the Head Maid was using herself as a shield for what I could only assume was the new servant hired last week.

' _May the Goddess receive and protect you in the Land of the Almighty_ ' I said a short prayer before moving to the pantry. Prying loose a few thorns, the door falls off its hinges as I back away to avoid further injury. Looking inside I see several jars of preserved fruit, condiments and bags of rice. Picking up a bag and jar containing what the jar labeled 'Miso', I bring them to the fire pit to start cooking. Heading off to one of the cabinets to use a hanging pot, I brought it over to the 'sink' that would allow me to get water without having to go outside to the well. While waiting for the fire to boil the water, I head towards the cool box where we keep all of our meat. I'm not sure how it works, but from what I have been told it utilizes magic and water in the air to freeze the contents inside from rotting. All I know is that only nobility could afford something like this. Looking inside, I see a few Salmon fillets that would have been used for today's meal. Taking them out and bringing a skillet hanging on the wall, I return to see the water has come to a boil.

Adding the rice and heating up the skillet, I walk back to the cool box for anything. Seeing a small cheese wheel and a bushel of carrots, I should feed Munchie now and bring the Princess these carrots. Knowing that this will be difficult adjustment for her, I could only hope that she can stomach it. She never was a picky eater, but I can only hope she will eat. Now that the skillet was hot enough, I add the salmon to cook while removing the pot of rice. Several minutes passed before I removed the fish and set it aside to locate a bowl and plate. Most were damaged but a few had survived. Placing the rice in the bowl and fish on the plate, I can say that breakfast has been made. It's nothing special that the Head Chef can do, so I can only pray that it is edible. When I moved the food the food on a tray to carry up to His Majesty and the Princess, a bell had rung throughout the kitchen.

 **A skill has been created due to a special action! You have learned the Basic Cooking Skill!**

 **Basic Cooking** : **Lv 3. Next Lv 57/200**. The ability on how to prepare and cook meals. Current Level only allows you to make certain meals such as boiled eggs, rice and bread. **Hint** : some meals can only be made when using recipe or by having someone with the 'Culinary' Class to teach you how to cook. **10 MP per dish**

I had almost dropped the tray when the White box appeared again. Steadying myself, I look at the box to see what it said. Not understanding what this was about, I pressed the ' **X** ' to make it go away. "I will figure out this magic later. Right now I need to bring this food to King Trode and the Princess" telling myself before putting out the fire and heading to the Third Floor with food in hand and the bushel of carrots under my arms. Taking the same detour, I arrived at the Kings Bed Chamber where both Father and Daughter had been for the night. I knocked on the door to announce my presence. When I did not hear a sound from either, I assumed that they must still be asleep. Moving the tray to a better angle to have a free hand, I reached for the handle and slowly opened it.

 **-Medeas POV-**

No matter how many times I look, my hands and feet are gone to be replaced with hooves. I haven't slept at all since Drake brought Father and me to his chamber. When I tried to speak, all that would come out was a slight neighing sound. I couldn't even clutch my throat at the sound that I had made. When Drake left, my father did not speak as to try and comprehend what has happened to both the Castle Staff and the three of us. All because of Dhoulmagus wanted the Sealed Scepter on the Fourth Floor.

I don't know how that jester came to know about; even father has only told me last month about the magical treasure. All that my father and I know about it was that it must not ever leave Seal Array. That is what has been passed down in our family for centuries since the time of the Great Sages. Now I know why, its magic is far too powerful too tempting for ordinary people to use. In the hands of people like Dhoulmagus, they could destroy a country with little to no effort.

' _Didn't Drake have a dream about a Scepter...Was it a warning for the events that happened_ ' I thought to myself as to remember the conversation we had just yesterday. At the time, I didn't want to talk about the Sealed Scepter to keep my promise to father. But know I cannot help but think what would have happened if I had discussed it with him. I have never kept any secret from Drake, even when we were children. Now I see the consequences of keeping secrets. ' _I promise to never keep another secret and to tell you how I feel if we ever return to normal, Drake. This is my Oath to you_ '.

I heard knocking come from the door. I look towards it, and then the window to see that dawn had already come. Feeling ever flustered, I lay down on the ground and closed my eyes to assume a sleeping form. A minute past before the door slowly opened to show Drake carrying a tray of food and a large plant of some sort. I'm too embarrassed to face him in my current form, so I just remained in my position. "I suppose you both have had a long night. I'll leave this over here for you two" he said while walking over to Fathers desk and laying down the food. He began to head towards the door when his footsteps halted. "Medea" he whispered and I froze at my name being called. I couldn't see him from my current position, but I could tell that he was looking at me. I waited for him to either call me out that didn't sleep or to check if I was alright, but what came next made my heart ache. "I'm sorry for failing you" was all he said before closing the door and walking down the corridor. I wanted to speak, to tell him ' _This is not your fault_ ' so badly that tears were falling. Never in my life have I ever wanted to express my sorrow and anger at anyone, but I will curse Dhoulmagus for having placed this curse upon us. For my father to look like a monster, for making Drake feel responsible for this tragedy, and for taking my voice to ease Drakes worry.

 **-Eldrake POV-**

After leaving the Castle, I needed to check to see if the town's people were affected by this curse or not. Running off to the Main Gate, I looked to see how the castle was. Most of the vines had only struck the windows and not the main support beam. From where I was standing, it looked like the castle had been a ruin for a long time instead of just nine hours. After leaving through the gate, I could see that this curse was indeed powerful. What stood before me were the vines acting like thread in embroidery while the homes were the cloth. Main Street had so many thorns coming out of the ground and impaled the citizens like it had done me. The only difference was that there was no blood on the ground from where they stood. I saw men carrying weapons attacking the thorns, the elderly on the ground and women holding their children in flee. When I took a step forward, I heard a familiar bell sound.

 **Welcome to the Ruins of Trodain**

 **Since you have obtained the Blessing of the Goddess "Divine Body", would you care for a Tutorial?**

 **Reward: 1000 Exp, 2 Gold Pieces per section, 5 PAS Points, ?**

 **Yes** No

The box had written on it, not understanding why it keeps showing up at the most random of times. Seeing as how the 'No' has been colored gray, I pushed 'Yes'.

 **To begin, please pick one the sections listed below:**

 **Status**

 **Skills**

 **Spells**

 **Inventory**

 **Quest/Mission**

Not knowing where to start, I chose the first one on the list.

 **Status Window**

 **Name: Eldrake ?**

 **Age: 18 Race: Human/?**

 **Title: Soldier of Trodain**

 **Class: Soldier/Lancer**

 **Level: 4 Next Level: 600/2500**

 **HP: 315/315 HPR: 8.4 per min**

 **MP: 89/100 MPR: 2 per min**

 **STR: 16**

 **VIT: 16 (+5) = 21**

 **DEX: 18 (+5) = 23**

 **INT: 17 (+3) = 20**

 **WIS: 21 (+2) = 23**

 **LUK: 8**

 **Points: 15 (+5 points per Lv)**

 **Money** : 4 Gold, 97 Silver, 68 Copper (Money Conversion Rate: 100 Copper = 1 Silver, 100 Silver = 1 Gold. The average villager only spends 40 coppers a day (for food) and earns 1 silver a day depending on the Job/Class)

 **Perks:**

 **?: +1 WIS & +2 VIT per Lv, +15% increase towards Monster Drop, +20% Reputation gain with Non-Human tribes**

 **?: +2 INT per Lv, +15% EXP towards Strategy & Tactics, +20% EXP towards Politics/Diplomacy & Language Skills**

 **Status Effects:**

 **?: The Caster, ?, has sealed away your memories to protect the ?. Due to the seal, you have become Immune to Curse's. Permanent Status.**

 **Elemental Affinity:** **N/A**

 **Description** **: Eldrake's past from the moment of his birth to the age of eight is shrouded in mystery. Found in the gardens of Trodain by Medea L. Trodain, he was nursed back to health and asked to remain in Trodain by Medea to be her first friend. Wanting to repay the kindness to the King and Princess, Eldrake began to work in the Castle as a servant. Has recently been promoted to Soldier Second Class by Medea so that the two could spend more time together.**

I could only stare at what I was looking at. This little box had shown me the last ten years of my life here in Trodain. And the fact that it could show me that I have a last name meant that I have family as well in this world. When I tried to press what the question mark next to my name, I was frustrated that a new box came up.

 **Due to the circumstances of your birth, they will remain sealed until you have discovered the reason. Once this Tutorial is finish, a new Quest/Mission will be given.**

Not wanting to become upset at not knowing who my parents are, I sit down on the ground to think of what to do. ' _My parents could be out there, but the most likely situation is that they have passed on and I was orphaned_ ' thinking to myself as I look at this 'Status' box as it called itself. Looking at all of the numbers, I pressed 'HP' to get a better understanding of this 'magic'.

 **Attributes**

 **This determines your strengths and weaknesses. The way to increase them is by putting points into them when you have leveled up or by training and/or performing certain task. Warning: as your attributes increase, it will become more difficult to attain them through training/task. Some Titles can give additional bonuses to these attributes.**

 **Strength (STR):** The Strength Attribute determines a person's overall muscle and physical power. It affects the amount of damage a person can inflict on another and can improve your physical appearance. Strength can naturally increase by performing physical exercises.

 **Vitality (VIT):** The Vitality Attribute determines a person's Health (HP) and constitution. This also affects how the body heals or regenerates (HPR) outside of combat and can resist up to certain types of Status Conditions (Ex. Poison, Paralysis, Burns, etc). Vitality can naturally increase by performing either physical exercises or placing a status effect on yourself to increase your endurance.

 **1 VIT = 15 HP & 0.4HPR**

 **Dexterity (DEX):** The Dexterity Attribute determines a person's overall movement. Accuracy, Dodge Rate and Hand-Eye coordination are the basics for this attribute.

 **Intelligence (INT):** The Intelligence Attribute determines a person's thinking ability, innovation and how well they are able to maintain that knowledge. This affects the power of Magic and how much they have. This plays an important role in Politics, Language and (?). The best way to increase is via studying books. Though similar to Wisdom, Intelligence allows you to know the subject and to answer it.

 **1 INT = 5 MP**

 **Wisdom (WIS):** The Wisdom Attribute determines a person's common sense, perception, and ability to manipulate Magic. It affects how fast the person is able to recover magic. Similar to Intelligence, Wisdom allows you to look at a situation but come up with a different solution. Wisdom can increase by understanding problems and thinking outside of the norm.

 **Every 10 WIS = 1% MP Regen**

 **Luck (LUK):** The Luck Attribute determines a person's chance. It affects finding treasure, wining money through gambling and the quality of loot from monsters. Note that this skill cannot increase through the point system and must be done through finding a high quality treasure or winning big at gambling.

Going over every description carefully and looking at my overall stats, I can only assume that I'm balanced from what the numbers say. Another boxed appeared once I finished reading.

 **Now that you understand Attributes, would you like to use them now?**

 **Yes No**

Looking at this, I do not know if this would change anything so I hit 'No' to close this box when another on popped into existence.

 **For being cautious about this new situation and saving points your WIS has gone up by 1!**

I blink at this new screen before making this box vanish. ' _So that is what it meant when you could increase an attribute naturally_ ' I thought as I closed all of these boxes to go for the next section. Feeling movement in my front pocket, I look to see Munchie crawl out and fall into my lap. Turning around to my bag, I locate the cheese wheel I found this morning and set it on the ground. Seeing this, Munchie shoots off my lap and tears apart the wheel as fast as he can. Laughing at the moment, I return my attention to the box and press 'Skills'.

 **Skill List**

 **Abilities that the User has either learned or created for their daily life. There are currently Three Types of skills that the User can access; Passive, Passive/Active, and Active.**

 **Passive Skills:** **Abilities that improve themselves over time and grant bonuses to attributes.**

 **Divine Body** : **Lv Max**. A blessing from the Goddess bestowed upon you for surviving the Thousand Thorn Curse. HP and MP are fully recovered after sleeping in a bed, 25% outdoors or in a tent. The User of this Blessing shall live His/her life as a ? (Only when you have come to the end of your life may you understand the true meaning behind this Skill).

 **Cartography** : **Lv 6. Next Lv 1387/1600**. This allows the user to chart/draw and understand any map. At the current Level, the user can only chart the Basic of small villages, roads and caverns. **Hint** : by acquiring a town map, you will be able to update your current surroundings and Level up this skill (depending on the quality of the map). Grants the User " **Map** " Function.

 **Tactics/Strategy** : **Lv 18. Next Lv 819/4,800**. The ability to Think and Lead in any situation to obtain the desired results. At Higher levels, the User can coordinate with other people and perform actions that are considered impossible by normal standards. **Hint** : the way to increase this Skill is by studying past Tactics and/or applying them to actually use. Passively Increase WIS by 2

 **Politics/Diplomacy** : **Lv 12. Next Lv 587/4,200**. The ability to maneuver in political situations by methods of persuasion, blackmail, guile and manipulation. The higher the Lv, the higher the success rate will be. 12% of success. **Hint** : the way to increase this Skill is by studying and/or applying them to actually use. Passively Increase INT by 3

 **Cleaning/Washing: Lv Max.** A technique to wash; dishes, clothes, floors/windows and/or Equipment. With complete mastery, the User can clean any dirty spot or stain. Durability will also increase by a small percentage if washing clothes that are either cloth/silk.

 **Languages** : the method of communication between the Races, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way. Each Language is divided into 4 Parts ( **Lv 25 Read, Lv 50 Write, Lv 75 Hear, Lv MAX Speak** ). This Skill will allow you to do all of them, but the higher the level, the more fluent the User will become in said Language.

 **Human (English): Lv MAX. Speak the Tongue of Man**

 **? (?): Lv MAX. Speak the Tongue of ? (Note: Until the User has discovered the reason of their Heritage, this Language will be Sealed)**

 **Passive/Active Skills** : These Skills can only Lv up when you have PAS Points. Each Skill will bestow you a New Title and Ability every 10 Points. PAS Points can only be obtained be either leveling up or completing certain quest.

 **Sword: 16/100. +5 Power Increase when holding a Sword**

 **Spear: 13/100. +5 Power Increase when Holding a Spear**

 **Boomerang: 5/100**

 **Fisticuffs: 7/100**

 **Courage: 6/100**

 **Analysis: 17/100. Skill - Observe**

 **PAS Points: 12 (+2 per Lv)**

 **Active Skill:** **Abilities that you the User must use constantly in order to improve a evolve them. When an Active Skill has been maxed out, a window will present itself to evolve into a higher tier skill. Some skills can only be learned through either a Skill book or by a tutor of a certain Class/Job.**

 **Basic Cooking** : **Lv 3. Next Lv 57/200**. The ability on how to prepare and cook meals. Current Level only allows you to make certain meals such as boiled eggs, rice and bread. **Hint** : some meals can only be made when using recipe or by having someone with the 'Culinary' Class to teach you how to cook. **10 MP per dish**

 **Botany/Harvesting** : **Lv 4. Next Lv 385/400.** The ability to recognize and gather all forms of plant life as well as growing/maintaining them. Current level only identifies Fruit, Vegetables and Low Rank Herbs. At higher levels, you can acquire; rare herbs, High Rank herbs, Identify if herbs are poisonous and distinguish if the plant is a monster type. **Hint** : Works in coalition with the Analysis Skill Tree. 28% Chance to obtain "Medium Rank" Herb, 3% to obtain a "High Rank" Herb, 0.01% chance to obtain "Rare" Herb. **15 MP**

 **Bartering** : **Lv 6. Next Lv 167/1600.** The ability to alter the price of an Item to either increase or decrease its original value. At the current Lv, the User can only go up to a 6% Increase/Decrease of the market value before you lose respect from either Buyer/Seller. **Hint** : Luck plays into effect here, so depending on the Item it may raise both the Skill and LUK Stat. **25 MP per Item/30 MP per Bulk**

I am speechless at the thought that I have this many skills. But my surprise is the Language that is hidden from me. That itself is more than enough proof that I am something other than human. Moving my hands to feel my ears, the thought that it might not have been the curse but from this Blessing that it happened. I'll leave those thoughts for later when I have time to properly think. When I tried to push the points, a window showed up that I would not be able to use it until after I leave Trodain. I left the aside for now as I need to further understand this magic.

 **Spells**

 **The Ability to utilize magic from within yourself and give physical form. Not everyone is born with the ability to use magic, only 18% of the world's population (Both Human and Non-Human) can use magic.**

 **You have not learned any Spells.**

I figured as much. When I was a child, King Trode had all of the children who turned ten come to the castle to be tested for magical ability. If you were lucky enough to show an aptitude towards it, His Majesty would grant the child the Title of Baron and have their family moved to a home closer towards the castle. It doesn't happen often as it sounds as the last child to have any extraordinary magical potential was seven years ago from the daughter of Marques Adam Albert. Since he was already a subject of Trodain, King Trode had decided to establish a squad of Knights in Alexandria to protect both the Albert Family and town's people of local monsters.

Even I was tested and shown that I had not an ounce of magic in me. So know I wonder why it says I can use magic now? I suppose that is one of the mysteries I will need to solve later on. Closing the box, I push 'Equipment/Inventory'. I become surprise to see myself and small squares next to my image.

 **Inventory**

 **This will allow the User to store any object that they desire into it. To store items, one only needs to simply place the item against the window and it will be safely stored. To retrieve the item, the User only needs to reach inside the window and think of the item that they desire. Let's try it now; please retrieve the Dragon Scale Accessory.**

Feeling slight disbelief at the thought of placing items in a storage made out of thin air, even with magic, was ludicrous. My surprise only grew when my hand had disappeared in the 'window' of squares. When I pulled my hand out, there wrapped around my wrist was the Dragon Scale. The accessory was something else; the scale was a bright red attached to a leather cord. On the cord were five bronze beads, six silver beads and two fangs. Whoever was the craftsman must have had a hard time collecting the materials to make it. Staring at the scale a little longer, I decided to place it back in the 'Inventory'. When I removed my hand, the scale was no longer there and one of the squares was filled with a picture of the scale. I closed the windows, and pressed on the last section.

 **Quest/Missions**

 **You will be able to perform special task for people and upon completion, you will be rewarded. What that reward is will depend on how hard the task set for you will be.**

 **Mission: Complete the Tutorial. Reward: 1000 Exp, 2 Gold Pieces per section, 5 PAS Points, ?**

 **Mission: Find out about your Parents. Reward: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?**

I look at the last mission at why there were so many question marks, but could only imagine that it was quite difficult because maybe even the Goddess did not know who my parents were. Getting rid of the final window, I now know that this is a magic blessing was made to either improve my very character or to perform a task set forth from the Goddess. Either way, I have a better grasp on this power.

 **Mission Complete:**

 **Complete the Tutorial**

 **Reward: 1000 Exp, 10 Gold Pieces, 5 PAS Points, Orange Short Sleeve Long Coat**

A bright light had had enveloped me and I was now wearing the short sleeve long coat. From what I can see, it was of fine cotton with decent tailor work. At least there was a pocket big enough for Munchie to sleep in now. Speaking of said mouse, I look to my right and see him passed out with a few crumbs of cheese on the ground. Picking him up and putting him in his new home, I look up to see that it had only been an hour since I sat down to go over this magic. Taking a deep breath, I make my way to the center of town to begin my investigation.

 **-0-**

"So, everyone besides you, my Daughter and I have been turned into that plant like forms" King Trode asked after I had reported from investigating the town. He had not left his chamber until I had come to report what I had found. "Yes Your Majesty, the town is in similar conditions as the castle. I have searched through every home I could but I am afraid that every citizen of Trodain has been cursed" I stated from my kneeling position in front of him while the Princess stood beside her father on all fours hooves. King Trode just sat in his chair while rubbing his now bald green head with his talon hands. I waited to see if there was anything that he wanted me to do before I went to the kitchen to start tonight's meal.

"We cannot remain here and idle our precious time away" he said to himself while trying to come up with a course of action. He then looked up from the floor towards me "You said that you saw a bright light flying off in the East?" I nodded and His Majesty held his chin as to remember a past thought. "To the east of Trodain is the city of Farebury **.** Master Rylus was our Court Magician before he retired. If what that Jester had told me was true, then he was a student under Master Rylus's care. Hopefully there is a shred of truth to it. Right then!" the King said with more pep in his step as he got out of his chair.

"Now, Drake my boy, the only course of action now is to go after the foul Dhoulmagus to lift this curse. There is a lot of packing to do but we should leave no later than tomorrow. There should be a spare wagon somewhere on the castle grounds. I am sorry my precious Daughter, that I will have to force you to do manual labor" King Trode said while walking towards his cursed Princess. She lowered her head so that he could hug her. His Majesty had tears in his eyes as he moved to hug his strong daughter.

I watched the tender moment before I voiced my concern. "Your Majesty, I am all well for going after Dhoulmagus, but on the chance that he has fled in a different direction, how are we to pay for this? I have a few coin to me but at most I can only get us a week stay in Farebury and pay the check point towards Alexandria" I said not wanting look up.

"Hmmm...You are quite right, my boy, and I can't use the royal coffers for this as it does not belong to me" the king said as he began to pace across the room. Medea and I watched as he went back and forth until he stopped. "A merchant...the Merchant Guild is stationed in Farebury. If we could apply to become merchants, then we wouldn't need to pay the tax for entering another country. Since the Merchant Class is the only one that can bypass the checkpoints with just the Approval of the Guild. And if we can make a profit from what we sell to the cities, we can use that to purchase information about Dhoulmagus's whereabouts. We will be killing two birds with one stone!" He said loudly as both princess and I looked at each other confused at the actions.

"Right Then! Drake, head off towards the vault and take out any vases, paintings and small statues that can easily fit into the wagon. Medea, if you could go and look for the wagon as best as you can then lead Drake to it. I will need to lock the coffers and vault in case any thieves decide to make our castle an easy target" he said as he rushed off to one of the Vaults. The horse princess and I both blinked at where the king had run off to before shrugging it off to complete our new task.

 **Mission: Journey of the Cursed King**

 **Find, Capture or Kill Dhoulmagus to Break the Curse on both King Trode and Princess Medea**

 **Reward: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?**

 **Faliure: Death**

 **Mission: Find anything of Value to become a Merchant**

 **Bonus: ?, ?, ?**

 **Reward: Estimated Gold of Items, Merchant Pass, Job - Merchant**

 **Bonus Reward: ?, ?, Title**

 **Failure: Must pay a High Tax at every Check Point before entering a New Country**

Looking at these two new quests, I turned slightly to see if Medea could also see them. She didn't react to them, so I can only assume that I am the only one that this magic really does affect. Accepting both, I lead the princess outside so that she could find this wagon for us. While she was doing that, I went back inside to see if there was anything that hasn't been damaged too much.

 **-0-**

The next morning came and I was loading up all of the items that we could find in the wagon. The wagon was a piece of work that needed a brand new wheel and cloth roof. It would get us to Farebury, but we would need to purchase a new one if this was going to be a long journey. after placing the last urn in the wagon, the king came down the grand stair case with a small nap sack which I would assume was full of either food or coin incase our plan to become Merchants went up in smoke. The Princess was looking at the castle with a somber look while the king tried to jump in the rider's chair. Walking over to her, I cautiously put my hand on her large white neck and began to pet it. "It will be alright...We'll be back before you know it. We just need to have a little faith" I said while looking at the ruined castle. Medea moved her head toward my chest and just left it there. I moved my arm around her head to try and give her what little comfort I could. We remained like that for a few minutes before we had to leave, positioning the Princess to be secured to the Wagon while trying not to make it uncomfortable for her. "Are you ready, my boy?" the green king asked while I strapped on my sword. Walking up to the side of Medea, I turned back to His majesty with a smile "Let's Go."


	3. Chapter 2: Yangus, The Lengend'ry Bandit

**-0-**

It had been several hours since our departure of Trodain and it had started out safely until Slime came bouncing out on the main road. Granted I wouldn't have even payed it any attention to the small monster as their species was barley Rank G, if this particular had not only charged at us but jumped over us and the wagon to the other side before bouncing away. All three of us looked at the at the dust cloud that used to be the Slime before turning back to each other. "That was...peculiar?" I said out loud as most monsters would try to fight instead of jumping over their prey. King Trode could only nod in agreement before we continued on the road, until we heard trees crashing to the ground in the distance.

"What was that?" His majesty asks as I removed my sword from its sheath. Scanning the forests edge and waiting for another sound to reveal its location, I hold up my hand to the sky to inform the royal family to stop moving for now. Having seen the signal, Medea comes to a complete stop while her father is looking at every direction for the sound while still hold onto the reigns. We had come up with this arrangement for when we would have to encounter monsters. Medea would stop the carriage to not alert them towards us, King Trode would look for any sign of monsters while being ready to flee on command and I would handle on the extermination of them. There were still some flaws with this plan but it would have to work until we can either afford to hire mercenaries or if I could get stronger. *CRASH* this time the sound came fifty feet east-southeast from our current position.

Moving myself between the wagon and the monster, I brought my sword and shield up and got into a battle position. I didn't need to wait long as the monster toppled the last tree standing in its way to the ground. What stood before me was a purple bull with an orange bird's beak. ' _Well, let's see if that new ability can tell me what you are._ ' "Observe" I said softly as to not startle the beast.

 **Observe** : This ability may only allow the User to see the Name, Lv and Title for people/monsters. Once you get to know a person, the information will be updated. For Items, a small description of its uses will be shown. For monsters, it will show which attribute is the strongest and most commonly used and it's Rank.

 **Buffalo Wing - Lv 7 - Beast of Trodain - STR - Rank F**

From the description and me testing this ability, it can only show me how dangerous a monster is compared to me. This would be my first time going up against an actual monsters rather than having to stand in the back to watch my seniors fight; though I do admit that I am nervous at having to fight this Buffalo Wing all by myself. Doing some breathing exercises, I looked at the beast and saw the change in its demeanor. The next thing I knew we were charging at each other.

Bringing my shield up to block its horns and when we finally clashed, I swung my blade towards its side. My attack hardly did anything as the bull began to push me back further until we were thirty feet from the wagon. "MAINTAIN THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US!? IF YOU GET TO CLOSE, IT WILL COME FOR YOU INSTEAD YOUR MAJESTY!?" I yelled out to avoid them from getting caught up in this. Seeing Medea trying to move backwards was the only thing I saw as the bull lowered his head before quickly lifting it back up, its horns having caught the edge of my shield, forcing my left hand t go up as well. ' _DAMN!_ ' I thought to myself before drawing my sword backwards to make a thrust, hoping to impale it in its head. My blade soared forward but no to its target as I had hoped. The beast had tilted its head to my left to parry my attack, but I was able to hit its main body because of it. When I tried to remove my sword, the blade wouldn't budge from the monster. Letting go of it, I jumped backwards as the Buffalo raised itself on its hind legs and fell back to the ground. ' _So it held on to the blade with its own muscles to keep me stuck. If I hadn't let go, I would have been underneath its hooves._ '

Not letting my eyes of it, I crouch down to the ground and grab as much dirt as my hand could carry. I shifted my position a little to get a better angle at its side before I threw the dirt to its exposed eye. "BWWAAHHH!" the bull let out a cry and I made my move towards it. Making use of it now being blind, I threw my shield towards its right while I ran to its left to flank it. The shield made allot of noise which the bull thought it was me, and turned its head to the direction. It allowed me enough time to grab my swords guard. I had to use all of my strength to twist the sword, causing the bull even more pain until it had let go of my blade. Stepping back, the bull was staggering in place as its blood now gushing out of its wound. I jumped at the chance when it had lost its footing for a second, running as fast as I could to its front. I needed to get enough momentum going if I wanted to this to work, balling my hand up to make a fist. When I arrived, the bull glared at me before it could see my fist moving towards it head. When it did connect, the bull let out a cry and fell to the ground; right where I needed it to be. Bringing my sword up, I brought it down as fast as I could towards its neck. I did not hear it make its usual cry of pain and it wasn't moving, so that must mean...I won?

 **Exp +250, +25 Silver, 10 x pieces of Purple fur**

The window appeared to show that I had received a reward for my kill of the Buffalo Wing but I couldn't really appreciate it. It took far too long to take this beast down then it should have. A Soldier First Class could have taken down Rank D within minutes while a Knight can kill a Rank B during the time that it took me to kill this beast. I'm weak and there is no denying that fact. Looking to see that King Trode and Medea coming over, I re-sheathed my blade and moved back to them. "I'm sorry that took more time than necs-"

"That's enough of that" the green king intercepted me before I could finish my sentence. "I do not expect you to be able to slay every monster that we come across. If you can at least divert its attention away for Medea and I to move to a more secure position, that is when you should fall back and retreat to us. It is far better to lose a skirmish than to lose a battle, my boy" he said as he withdrew a hunting knife from his pocket and handed it to me. Looking at it in confusion, the king hopped down the driver's seat and walked over to the now deceased buffalo. Looking at the way he was feeling the pelt. "Might I ask what it is you are looking for, you're Majesty?" I asked quietly as to not disturb his concentration before he rushed over, took the knife out of my hands and plunged it into the bull. I had spent several minutes watching him remove the pelt from monster before moving beside him when he couldn't lift the body to the other side. Once he had removed the pelt, he ran to the wagon for a minute and came back with a bottle of what looked to water and some matches. Dumping a good portion of the oil on top of the corpse, he lit a match and threw it over the body. The beast lit up in seconds as the fire was surging skyward and the heat radiating from where I stood.

"Even if they attack indiscriminately, the monsters of our world were still created by the Goddess herself" King Trode spoke while still starring at the fire. Turning to him and wanting to ask, he continued with his explanation. "When a monster is killed in battle, their body will disintegrate into particles of light and head skyward to the Goddess. On the off chance that a monster killed is unable to turn into said light, they will become an even more powerful monster that will destroy land and villages. This is the first lesson that anyone who ventures out of their home must know. What we did was a simply purification process, though it was crude, we had to work fast or it would have caused more trouble latter on down the road."

I looked to the pelt that we had just carved off and then the roaring bonfire, "And why did we take its pelt?" he looks at me briefly before retuning his gaze to the fire as it was beginning to become smaller. "The quality of the pelt was adequate and can be made into either a type of clothing or an accessory. We could either keep it or sell it; it is a matter for another time. We must be on our way" the green man said before walking back to the wagon. He began to climb up when turned to face me with a gentle smile. "Back in my youth, there was this rumor that if a monster did not wish to go to the Goddess, it was because they still had lingering attachment to this world. So we would make whatever we could out of their remains to bring with us so that they could see whatever it is that it desired in its past life. And if you could fulfill their desire, their remains would turn into lights to meet with the Goddess. But that is merely a wives tale from decades ago" he said while waving his hand to perish the thought before jumping back in the driver's seat. Looking back at the remains that have now turned to ash, I moved my right hand over my body to make the symbol of the Goddess. A minute had passed before I walked back to Medea to continue on our journey.

 **You have attained 1 Large Purple Fur**

 **-0-**

After a quick stop for lunch, we were about to arrived at the wooden bridge that would connect us to the main road to Farebury. I had asked why we have yet to build a bridge out of stone since Trodain is the Capital. His majesty explained that it was an ongoing process with the Nobles on whether to use the Royal Coffers to create another port city on the western side of Trodains land or to build a bridge to use roads that already exist but have to have merchants make longer trips and to make it a check point. Both had their ups and downs while King Trode could only wait to until they had a majority on which project to start with. I wonder if it wasn't just because that the Nobles didn't want to use their own fortune to build them while still trying to make a claim that they had a hand in building them.

 **Mission: Shioshishio City Construction**

 **Help raise the funds to build both a new Checkpoint and Port City within Trodain**

 **Objective: Contribute 500,000,000 Gold**

 **Reward: Ruler of Shioshishio, 2,000,000 Exp, ?, ?**

 **Time Limit: None**

 **Yes No**

Staring at the window in pure shock and figuring out how many lifetimes it would take to even reach that much gold. Seeing as there is no penalty for this, I press ' **Yes** ' and it vanished from view. Looking ahead I could still not find anyone on the road, usually the roads would have either travelers want to visit the capital or merchants to sell their wares. Yet it has been more than seven hours since we left Trodain and have not met a single soul. "Your Majesty, do you find it strange?"

"Hmmm...What do you mean, my boy? Besides the odd monster now and then, it has been a rather lovely day" he stated while looking at the clear blue sky. "I'm only saying this because I am concerned...I don't believe that we are the only ones on the main road" I said as I moved to walk beside Medea. Hearing my concern, a slight scowl spread across the green man's face at my concern. Once coming down the hill, we had arrived at the west end of the bridge and I could see why King Trode wanted to build a check point here. This bridge was on its last leg if what the decay of the wooden post and rope were telling me. The bridge was only a half-mile long and we should be able to reach our targeted rest area by sunset, if things go according to plan.

When we were half way across the bridge, we had finally met another human walking the main road. They appeared to a man of a round figure and barley came up to my chin. Their main attire was a large brown fur vest and some type of fruit on top of his head. I would have thought he was one of the lumberjacks that live out in the woods to supply Farebury with lumber; the problem thought was that he was holding an axe in their hand and walking down the center of the bridge. "Hold it right there!" he yelled out while spinning the axe above his head and stomping on the bridge as a form of intimidation. Due to the vibrations I felt from his stomp, I don't suspect that this bridge is going to hold with all of us on it."Who gave you premission to use my bridge, then, eh?"

"Premission!? PERMISSION!? THIS bridge lies within MY kingdom, you oaf!" his Majesty said in a condescending tone while slowly looking for any more 'guest' might come to join us. "Wot you on about? A creepy old codger like you, a king? Don't make me laugh!" the man said while looking at the King Trode with so much skepticism that his eyebrow rose well beyond into his hat.

"I see your mouth is as vulgar as your face! Yes, I'M the King of this Continent! And who exactly do you think YOU are!?" the green man becoming more livid at each sentence while pointing his finger across the bridge and directly at our current road blocker. "Me? Hearing my name is enough to make anyone wet their knickers!" he said rotating the axe above his head once more. "That's right! Yer talkin' to none other than Yangus, the legend'ry bandit, 'imself!" he says as I use the skill **Observe** to see what if this skill could give me any information. What it gave me made me question this power as a new box window showed up

 **Yangus - Lv 16 - Bandit Lord of Pickham**

"Yangus?" Trode tries to say, but the way his face is scrunching up he is having difficult time believing that anyone could have such a name. "The one and only! Time to cough up! You 'ave to pay if you wanna cross my bridge." I raise an eyebrow at our surrounding, ' _why aren't any of his men coming out to surround the bridge? It would be easy to threaten us by cutting the rope and he could salvage what makes it out of the ravine. Surely this man didn't come...alone..._ ' moving my hand behind Medea to make it look like I was calming her while holding up the hand signal for 'Zero'. Having seen my signal, the king calms down enough to put on a smug look of confidence. "The one and only Yangus!? What a shame there aren't more of you! Now, kindly remove your one and only self from MY Bridge and clear off!"

"Grrr!" tightening his grip and a scowl forming on his round face as his self introduction did very little to scare us. "Don't push yer luck, you green-faced freak! I would've let you go if you'd o' kept your gob shut an' paid up, but ya wanna do this the 'ard way, eh? Fine by me!" placing both hands on his weapon he began to charge at us.

 **Mission: Duel with a Bandit**

 **Fight and Survive against the Legend'ry Bandit Yangus**

 **Bonus: ?, ?**

 **Reward: 10,000 Exp, 200 Gold, 5 PAS Points, ?**

 **Bonus Reward: ?, ?, ?**

I'm staring at this window thinking that the magic is deliberately trying to kill me. Since being on the bridge narrows our mobility, I'm not in the best environment. So I walked a little further ahead of Medea and in the path of Yangus. As he got closer and readied his weapon, I ducked down to the boards and head butted him as hard as possible. "GAGH!" was all Yangus had time to say before clutching his stomach in pain and me doing the same for my head. "QUICKLY CROSS WHILE HE'S DAZED!?" I yelled while rolling the bandit to side for Medea and wagon to rush across. Seeing as they had passed us and needing some space, I steeped a few paces away while keeping an eye out, seeing the axe being the major problem, decided to throw it off the bridge to at least give me a fighting chance. "You 'ittle bugger! NOW I'M MAD!?" Yangus shouted as he began his charge again. Reaching for my sword to unsheathe it but I wasn't expecting a fist to hit my solar plexus and threw me a good ten feet towards the princess and king.

 **-120 HP and Broken Rib**

 **195/315 HP**

Before I could even look, Yangus lifted me up off the boards so that we were faced to face. Right up until he punched me in the gut, forcing me to cough out blood before dropping me.

 **-86 HP**

 **109/315 HP**

Coughing up what felt like a pint of blood, my mind was racing to see how I could get out of this before I felt a kick to my chin that lifted me up into the air before I finally hit solid ground.

 **-98 HP**

 **WARNING!? HEALTH HAS DROPPED BELOW THE 1/10 OF TOTAL HP!? WARNING!?**

 **11/315 HP**

' _I...I'm going...to die..._ ' fear was now overriding all other thoughts as Yangus made a slow approach to my location. I could hear Medea neighing so loudly, while King Trode was yelling about something. Pushing myself off the ground and holding my side where my rib was cracked. Just standing is taking all of my energy, looking up to see Yangus staring at me with a cocky smile. ' _How can he smile at a time like this? I don't get it. I don't understand how he can smile when it's a one sided fight in his favor?_ ' my fear of dying must be affecting my own eye sight now...my fear…what if...what if I could get rid of my fear, if only temporally. "PAS Distribution" I spoke as the window popped up and there it was.

 **Courage** : the ability to do something that you know is difficult or dangerous and to be able to overcome it. **6/100**

Lifting my hand, I pressed to arrow next to ' **Courage** ' and all of the points went in to it to make it **21/100**. Then I received a massive headache as two new windows showed up

 **You have gained the Courage to begin your Journey and learned the Spell: Radiant**

 **You have become Brave to face the challenge before you and learned the Spell: Rai**

 **Radiant** : The User is able to make a ball of light to illuminate dark areas and possible blind their opponents. **10 MP for 30 Min (Small version) or 60 for 1 min (Large version)**

 **Rai (Bolt of Lightning)** : The User is able to launch a single ball of lightning at the enemy. **20 MP**

And just as quickly the headache was gone and replaced with knowledge that I never had before; how to use magic from within your body and how to channel it to form them. When the windows had vanished, it showed Yangus in front of me. I could feel a slight tingle sensation at the back of my head and I can only assume that _that_ was my fear for dying. Huh, I was so much bigger a minute ago but now I'm calm and hanging on the border. I know I can still have fear, but in hindsight, Yangus is not all that scary when you get a good look at him. "You 'inaly wet your knickers, then, eh?" he smiled as to gauge my reaction, though it slowly turned into a questioning when he say my calm expression. Softly chucking at his confusion, I raised my right hand just an inch away from his face. " **Radiant** "

Two rings of ancient runes appeared out of nowhere and moved directly into my right hand as it formed into a white orb. Not a second later, light had flooded the area. King Trode and Medea had to look away from the intensity of the light. "GRAAAAAHHH!" the bandits scream could be heard from somewhere in the center of the light. Taking the initiative to punch him, unfortunately Yangus jumped back onto the bridge. 'What you lack in knowledge, you can make up in instinct' as some would say. When my spell had ended, everyone was rubbing their eyes from the irritation. What happened next was something even I couldn't imagine. "GRAAAAAHHH!" I heard Yangus scream as the bridge began to collapse from our brawl. As the bridge was being destroyed by both us and time, I rushed over to the cliff side and to my surprise he is hanging on to the only rope connected to the bridge post on this side. "You must have the devils luck" I said out loud.

"Now that's what I call an interesting development." he says while nodding at the scene and jumping back into the driver's seat now that the drama has calmed down. "Let us carry on, Drake, my boy! There, there, my precious Medea. Did the bad man scare you?" he stated as he instructed his daughter to carry forward. Looking towards my king and my opponent, going over what his Majesty was implying. Running my hands through my hair out of frustration at either to ignore or give, I rushed to the rope in time to catch it before it had finally snapped. Now bearing with the full weight of the man, I steady myself as to find my footing. Finding it, I try to lift him up, but neither the ropes nor my arms would move. I didn't have the strength to lift him to safety. Looking behind me to see the wagon was still moving away, since I was already trying to save him, might as well go all the way. "Status, place all points into strength!" I let out a groan as windows appeared showing that I now had **31** strength. The pain in my arms did stop as I could now actually pull Yangus up, even though it was only by a foot at each tug. I hear footsteps against the ground coming from behind me but I don't pay it any mind as I try to save this ridiculously heavy man.

"What are you doing, Drake?" the King stops beside me to look over the edge to see what has kept me. My only response was "I'm trying to save him" as I brought another foot of rope up and Yangus closer to safety. Bewildered by this, the king looks back into the gorge enough to see that Yangus was clutching the rope that I was pulling. Now Befuddled, he stares back at me with widened eyes at my sudden action to help. "But he attacked us! Why the devil are you helping him?" he yelled as I needed to rest from the strain on my arms. I looked back to the green king while trying to catch my breath, "Because...huff...huff...It wouldn't be right to leave a man to die in such a way."

"Just leave him! He is a bandit who tried to kill you for material wealth! It's poetic justice, I say! Nay, divine justice!" the kings voice was now an octave higher than normal at my insistence to save Yangus. Rested enough, I begin my rescue attempt again as he was much closer than a few minutes ago. "That may be, Your Majesty, but regardless of the actions that he has taken against us it is by no right to leave a man to die. You were the one who taught me, 'To save or to kill, as a king I must choose to limit how many must die for my kingdom. But as a Human, I would choose to save every man, woman and child. If I cannot even try to save them, then I have failed as a Human.' I know that the events from the past two days have weighed heavily on your mind, but that is no reason for this inaction! You are a benevolent and compassionate king; I know well enough that you would never ignore a man who is in need of help!" I yelled as I used all of my strength to pull Yangus over the edge and fly above us as I fell flat on my back. I felt a small crash above where my head was laying as I looked to see that the king was looking at me with his mouth agape and wide eyes.

I fell on to the soft grass, breathing heavily as the sun was moving slowly westward above us. It's only the first day on our journey and I'm exhausted; from walking several hours from Trodain to the bridge, fighting against monsters and a well experienced bandit, having used magic for the first time in my life and now having saved said bandit from certain death. For all that I had running in my head, the only thought that I could think of was ' _I want a nap_.'

"Th-Thank you, guv'nor. I thought I was done for...!" Yangus breathed out from while in taking a large breath. Sighing at what I had said, the green king walks over to me and Yangus. "What is the world coming to?" he said in a whisper as he collected his thoughts and stared at the round bandit. "Yangus, was it? You can show your gratitude by getting out of our sight!" he ordered as this was the only way he knew how to show kindness while still maintain what little pride he had. I smiled at His majesty for at least hearing me out and not breathing me like a child

"Hahh... Hahh... Yer 'avin a laugh!" Yangus was laughing at the situation he sees himself in. this in turn, brought back the scowl in the kings green face. "What? Still here? If you won't do us the favor of leaving, I'll be happy to provide some encouragement!" he said while maintain his position. That all vanished when the bandit jumped off the ground and prostrated himself to my side with his head banging the ground. "Mister Drake! N-No, guv'nor! I really owe ya!" Yangus yelled out as I looked at him with shock as this was the first time that anyone had ever prostrated to me, let alone showing gratitude. Being a servant kind of puts you on the low end of gratitude as this was part of my job description. Lifting his head up to look at me, I could see all of his determination in his eyes. He continued as he now had my attention, "You saved me life an' ev'ryfin'! You're the bee's knees, Guv!"

Losing what little sanity he had left, King Trode returns up close to us yelling "Guv? What is this nonsense!? Are you a complete imbecile? This boy is my retainer!? If you're in anyone's service, it's mine!" Turning his head quickly to the side, Yangus let out a glare that matched his appearance all too well. "Put a sock in it! I ain't talkin' to you. Drakes the one who saved me!" he bellowed out which in turn caused King Trode to step back in surprise. "P-Pu-Put a sock in...!?" the green man stuttered out at the sheer audacity that Yangus yelled out. "Who do you think you're speaking to, you, you...good-for-nothing scoundrel!"

I backed away from the two as they were throwing out insults at each other. Feeling a push to my head I turn around to see Medea moving her head against mine, placing my hand against her the side of her face before lying back down in the grass to take a nap. Hopefully those two would get everything out of their system by the time I would wake up.

 **-0-**

 **Mission: Duel with a Bandit**

 **Fight and Survive against the Legend'ry Bandit Yangus**

 **Bonus: Use magic for the First Time, Save Yangus from Peril**

 **Reward: 10,000 Exp, 200 Gold, 5 PAS Points, Boxer Shorts**

 **Bonus Reward: Beginners Magic Study (Book), Yangus Joins the Party, Bandits Treasure (Collected by Yangus since his move to the Eastern Continent)**

 **-0-**

 **You have leveled up by 3**

 **Name: Eldrake ?**

 **Age: 19 Race: Human/?**

 **Class: Soldier/Lancer**

 **Title: Soldier of Trodain**

 **Level: 7 Next Level: 1,750/4,000**

 **HP: 405 HPR: 10.8 per min**

 **MP: 130 MPR: 2 per min**

 **Strength: 31**

 **Vitality: 22 (+5) = 27**

 **Dexterity: 18 (+5) = 23**

 **Intelligence: 23 (+3) = 26**

 **Wisdom: 25 (+2) = 27**

 **Luck: 8 (can not Level up with points)**

 **Points: 15 (+5 points per Lv)**

 **Money** : 205 Gold, 22 Silver, 98 Copper

 **Perks:**

 **?: +1 WIS & +2 VIT per Lv, +15% increase towards Monster Drop, +20% Reputation gain with Non-Human tribes**

 **?: +2 INT per Lv, +15% EXP towards Strategy & Tactics, +20% EXP towards Politics & Language Skills**

 **Status Effects:**

 **?: The Caster, ?, has sealed away your memories to protect the ?. Due to the seal, you have become Immune to Curse's. Permanent Status.**

 **Elemental Affinity:** **Light, Lightning**

 **Spell List:**

 **Radiant** : The User is able to make a ball of light to illuminate dark areas and possible blind their opponents. **10 MP for 30 Min (Small version) or 60 for 1 min (Large version)**

 **Rai (Bolt of Lightning)** : The User is able to launch a single ball of lightning at the enemy. **20 MP**

 **Skill List**

 **Passive/Active Skills** : These Skills can only Lv up when you have PAS Points. Each Skill will bestow you a New Title and Ability every 10 Points. PAS Points can only be obtained be either leveling up or completing certain quest.

 **Sword: 16/100. +5 Power Increase when holding a Sword**

 **Spear: 13/100. +5 Power Increase when Holding a Spear**

 **Boomerang: 5/100**

 **Fisticuffs: 9/100**

 **Courage: 21/100 Brave - Radiant, Rai**

 **Analysis/Observe: 17/100. Skill - Observe**

 **PAS Points: 11 (+2 per Lv)**


	4. Chapter 3: Learning the Ropes

**-0-**

*Drip*

.

.

.

.

.

*Drip*

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.

.

.

*Drip*

The sound of water is echoing all around me. My eyes are so heavy...I want to...sleep more...

.

.

.

*SPLASH*

"AAHHH!" I scream out from my slumber from shock. Looking around, my surroundings have become dark. Rubbing the sleep and water out of my eyes, I can see that I was within a cavern of some sort from the little light that illuminated the room. The 'bedroom' from what I would assume was circular and quite small with the stone walls going only seven feet high. Looking at the only source of light that lit the room, I could see that the bottom portion of the door was blocking the light with its large stature.

"Morn'ng there, Guv" a familiar voice shouted in the room as it bounced around the room, which only made it louder. Bringing my hands to cover my transformed ears to reduce the sound by whatever means necessary, now that I was wide awake and my eyes have adjusted, I could see Yangus holding what appears to be an empty wooden barrel over his shoulder. "The old codger is up an' wait'n for ya. Shake a leg!" his voice echoing as he walks out into the light.

Shaking out the last droplets of water from my hair, I move myself to get off of whatever it was that it was on. What I saw was not what I had expected, thinking to myself ' _Fur...I slept on a giant pile of fur...?_ ' moving away from the make shift bed and heading towards the open door was all I could in this situation. ' _O.k. let's think back to the last memory I had; I fought Yangus, bridge collapsing, save Yangus, King Trode and Yangus began to fight and then...what? What happened after that?_ ' thinking to myself at the missing piece that should have been there while walking slowly towards the rooms exit. Walking out of the room, I was seriously questioning my own sanity at what was before me.

The room before me was a large circular room with four stone pillars to hold the ceiling in place. A small opening was positioned to let in a beam of either sunlight or rain water in that one location in the center between the columns. but what I was starring at all of the treasure chests across the chamber half opened filled to the brim of gold, gems and anything that would shine. I was tempted to just turn around and go back to the pile of fur to sleep this hallucination away when I could hear yelling coming across the other side of the room towards a door that was hidden from my view. Moving myself towards the wall and made my way around, the voices only growing louder as I make my way closer. After walking down the hallway, I could see a plants growing out of the walls and sunlight filling the hall. Finally stepping out onto the fresh air and the first thing I see were his Majesty and Yangus throwing insults back at each other.

Scanning the area, I see that Medea is grazing close to the entrance and not even paying her father any attention. I looked between all three of them before turning towards the Princess and asking "How long have they been at this?" She lifted her head to see me before galloping over to place her head on my chest. Not sure what was happening, I began to pat her head as she has refused to move it for several minutes. It would then be put to an end when the yelling had gone up a new pitch. "-NDAD! RETURN MY COUNTRIES TAXES AT ONCE, YOU OAF!""I a'nt taken no taxes from an'one! I gots them from people who don't know how ta pay a toll!"

*NEIGH* Medea moving herself to face them and letting out a loud noise to grab our attention. That has caused the King and Bandit to stop their quarreling to look at us. We all stood there blinking at each other before Yangus walks over with a smile on his face. "Glad to see ya up an about, Guv. Would've thought ya be still be walking with a limp on ya aft'a our fight but ya look right as rain."

"As far as I can tell, nothing is causing me any pain. So would you and his Majesty explain to me where we are exactly?" looking at Yangus and King Trode for any information to fill in this empty space of my memory. The miniature green troll walks over to us while clearing his throat. "Well my boy, I am glad that you have made a recovery. But because of this Neanderthal" he points to the Bandit who was looking away while picking his nose "this has caused us to lose a day of travel so that your injuries would not worsen."

"I see…I am sorry for delaying the journey" I stated while lowering myself to bow to King Trode. He just stood there staring at me before asking me "That is quite alright. If I don't take care of my own retainers, then how can I expect them to take care of me and my precious Medea. On another note that I would like to question; how is it that you can use magic now?" Looking up slightly so that I may look directly at his Majesty and tried to form what I could into words for both him and myself to understand.

"I do not know how to explain it, your Majesty. As far as I could recall, I have never once been able to use magic. I was hoping that you might be able to explain why I can use it now when I couldn't use it nine years ago?" Though I may have lied to King Trode, I was also hoping that he could explain if this could happen to anyone. We had remained in our current positions until he had let out a tired sigh. "As far as I know, everyone is born with enough magic within their bodies to keep it stable on a physiological level. I had installed several laws to both protect and utilize magic so that it would not lead to any disputes within the Nobility or citizens. Within the Eastern Continent, the ones who can freely control magic are no more than 8 people in total. It just goes to show that magic is one of the few secrets left for all of us to discover."

While educational as this topic was, it still didn't answer the question as to why I can use magic now. "I suppose we shall have to ask Master Rylus when we reach Farebury now, won't we" the small king said is I could only nod at this. I looked back over to Yangus who was currently doing handstands while we were doing our conversation. Feeling slightly bashful for ignoring the bandit, I called out "Sorry about that Yangus, we didn't mean to leave out of our conversation."

Looking up from his position, Yangus only smiled and continued his work out. "It's alright Guv. Most the time whenever someone talks about something intelligent, it just flies over me head like a Dracky in daylight" he said while still going at a regular pace without missing a beat. I would've thought that Yangus was going to hurt himself doing this exercise at first, considering his enlarge figure, but after yesterdays beating I now know better that Yangus is all muscle.

"By the way, Yangus, how long have you been in the general area? from what I can tell out of all the gold an-" was all I could get out before an orange blur shoot past me and rammed into the Bandit, causing him to fall to the ground. "HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TERROIZING THE CITIZENS OF MY COUNTRY, YOU BELLIGERENT ARSE!" Jumping to his feet, Yangus puts on a scowl and faces the green troll by yelling "I'VE ALREADY TOLD YA, I AIN'T TERRORIZINE NOBODY!"

Watching as the sparks continue to fly between them from another pointless shouting match, I look to see that the Princess was shaking her long head at the quarrel. "I can assume that they have been fighting since yesterday, Princess?" asking the horse princess and already seeing her nod her head up and down. It would be better if they could resolve their issues on their own but I can already tell that it would be a near impossible task right now. Bracing myself for whatever comes, the next word I spoke resonated with the surrounding. " **Radiant** "

The orb of light appeared within my hand as I extended it outward towards the bickering adults. A second later, then the orbs light began to intensify blinding all before my path. "GRAAAAAHHH!" "BLOODY 'ELL!" King Trode and Yangus both screamed out as to cover their eyes from the intense spell. When the spell had vanished, the two of them were rubbing their eyes to clear away what I could believe were colorful spots. "If you two could please behave as proper adults for five minutes to explain my previous question, I would appreciate it" saying out loud enough for both of them to know that I was the cause of their blindness. When they could finally see again, Yangus stepped forward scratching the back of his head as if slightly embarrassed.

"Well Guv, as you could tell I ain't a look'r and noth'n. So I had to make do wiv what I got and it made me into me current lifestyle. All them treasures inside is what I made during my stay here for the last...uh, think two months now" he said while looking at the ground like a child caught doing something they were not suppose to. My eyes caught the slightest twitch from the king at how long Yangus was doing his 'job' and decided to let King Trode speak before he chose to either attack Yangus or me, knowing full well I wouldn't fight back. "From what I know of, most of the taxes that come from; Farebury, Alexandria and Port Prospect had as of yet to pay them. I didn't get word of it until last week when the castle steward comes to me with a report that the nobles were hiding the fact that the taxes had not arrived. And now I see that my peoples hard paid taxes have been stolen by this Fat Oaf!" he stated while pointing at said oaf.

"Alright, I seem to understand why you two are arguing but I want to ask two questions. Yangus, are there any other bandits that you know of on this particular road to Trodain?" asking the Bandit to at least appease his Majesty. Yangus had a confused expression at my question but answered "Na, it's just me until ya get to the checkpoint near that Autumn Tree." said tree being the only one to grow red leaves all year round, even during winter. It is a national landmark that we received in a peace treaty with the Northern Continent.

Looking around the clearing to see that the wagon was hidden under the foliage, I ran over to the back of it to see my bag was hanging on the side. Reaching inside to secure the item for my next question as I walked back to them, "Okay, so we have now established that Yangus is in fact the only bandit to be operating this close to Trodain. So my next question is this; have you recently encountered a white stagecoach with this emblem?" I said while giving my Soldier Second Class ID Badge to him. He took his time to examine the emblem while his face scrunched up at trying to remember. Yangus gave me back my ID before saying, "the last time I saw someth'n like that was maybe a month back, after I had just settled in this cave".

Looking back to the green king for any information on the tax collection schedule, he had a frown stretch across his face. "We did receive last month's taxes on the fifteenth as scheduled. If what...Yangus says to be true, then I will...igize" he mumbled out the last few words as to not let us hear it. ' _That's about as much as I can get out of his Majesty. Now to sort out this next issue_ ' thinking to myself as I look to Yangus. "Alright then. Yangus, from all that I could gather I believe that you didn't take anything tax money heading for Trodain" I announced as he was sporting the biggest grin I have ever seen. It quickly vanished after my next sentence, "But that doesn't excuse you for having a small vault of gold taken from travelers and/or merchants."

"But Guv, I-" "There is no buts about this, Yangus. What you did was wrong and that will not change what has happened. Do you want to be a bandit for the rest of your?" I stopped him before he could get a word in. apparently my question had made an impact as he was staring at the ground. The only sound we could hear was coming from the cicadas hanging from the trees. "I'm not trying to belittle you, Yangus. I am sure that there were situations that have forced your hand to take up this type of life, but never the less it is not the solution to everything. I saved you yesterday because it was the right thing to do and you may have attacked us if you got out of it, but instead you showed gratitude to us, which tells me that you are man worth saving. I would gladly save them if the situation ever came up regardless of whatever happens afterwards" I said out loud for all those present to hear. Yangus turned his back towards me and was looking up to the clear sky.

"It's really raining down today, Guv. You and Granddad best be gett'n inside..." he said just low enough for us to hear. King Trode looks up at the clear sky with confusion, "What are you talking abo-!" he tried to say before I cut him off. "Thank you Yangus, please come get us when the rain has finally passed. Your Majesty, it would be in our best interest to seek shelter. We wouldn't want either you or the Princess to catch a cold, would we?" I said as I lifted his struggling for into my arms off the ground and motioned Medea to follow us inside the cavern. It would be an hour later before Yangus came inside soaking wet from head to toe, but he was smiling all the same.

 **For having deductive reasoning to prove that Yangus was not the culprit of the missing taxes your INT has gone up by 2!**

 **From you actions to save what little pride Yangus had your WIS has gone up by 1!**

 **Due to your words of making others reflect on their actions and to strive for better understanding themselves, Yangus has acquire the Humanity Skill Set!**

 **-0-**

It had taken a few hours to get Yangus up to speed on who we are our current objective and the reason for our appearances. Yangus's only reaction to it was nodding at it all; apparently he had dealt with a few Non-Humans during his time getting to the Eastern Continent. When all was said and done we had to get moving. Having discussed with King Trode on what to do with this piles of gold and no clear way to determine who it originally belonged to, we all came to the understanding to donate it all to the church when we reached Farebury. The reason for that was Yangus didn't want to just leave this entire behind for another bandit to get but also didn't want anything more to do with it as it would be his final act as from stealing from innocents. We had to move everything in the wagon around to fit 4 treasure chests filled to the brim in it, but it would all fit. When I did a final check to see that we didn't leave anything behind, I came to the room that I was asleep in. Seeing the pile of fur still there I called out " **Inventory** " for the white window to appear beside me and began to put all of them inside.

 **You have attained 30 x Large Variant Colored Furs**

"It would probably be enough to pay for a week's stay until we get a lead on Dhoulmagus" saying to myself having put the last piece of fur inside before closing my inventory. Moving out of the cave to see Medea being strapped in and King Trode in the driver's seat, I look to see Yangus moving a rather large boulder at me. Getting out of the way quickly, the ex-bandit rolled the boulder straight into the caverns entrance. Looking back at him as he clapped the dust out of his hands, he looked at with and said "It's a way to hide ones loot for being away and also to make sure that no one ain't gonna use it". ' _I guess Bandits have their own way of hiding treasure_ ' I thought to myself as I tied my bandana around my head.

"Alright then, if there are no more distractions, we best be on our way to Farebury. With any luck we shall arrive there in by two days time" King Trode said as he steered Medea to the direction of the main road. Moving to her left side and Yangus to the right of the wagon, we began our journey anew.

 **-Yangus POV-**

We had been walkin down this dirt path for hours now and the only excitin' thing we came across was a pack of Bunicorn, pint sized monsters that barely came to my knee. Since my axe was lost in the fight with the Guv, I at least got to pummel the bastards into the ground before they burst into light. The Guv seemed to have a bit of trouble with fightin them at first but would eventually kill one by the time I was finishing my ninth. When I asked why he was taking so long to finish of one of them, he responded that yesterday was his first day fighting monsters and that out of all of them I was the strongest. Laughing at the thought that I lost to a complete amateur on his first day out into the world. I must be losin my touch if Guv could best me, even with that light spell of his.

When the sky began to change color was the time that we moved off the road to the forest. It got a little rough for the 'orse princess but Guv was there to lead her straight. Still can't wrap me head that all of them are cursed by this Dhoulmagus. Granddad I can clearly tell, but the 'orse princess looks just like any old horse from a noble. Guv on the other 'and was a bit hard to tell cause the only thing that really stood out were his ears. He said that they feel like leather when he touches them and besides how they look, nothing else really changed. I've meet with a few Non-Humans though most of them were Dwarves, so Guv's ears don't really have that much of an effect. Though I guess that's not much compare to my ugly mug.

When we found a clearing, Guv was moving items from the wagon to the forest floor while the old Codger just moved from the driver's seat to look around. "Let me 'elp ya with that Guv" I yelled as I moved the heavy chest away with ease. Guv replied with a "Thank you" and continued to search the beat up wagon for something. "Hey Yangus, do you think you can scout for any wild game or a river to fish from? I don't believe we have enough for tonight's dinner" Guv asked when he jumped out of the wagon with a sack and large pot. Stopping what I was doing, I slowly turned to face him when he said that one word. "...Dinner?" I said loud enough that Guv looked back at me and smiled.

"Well yes, we all have to eat tonight and I want to at least have enough for tomorrow's breakfast. I just don't want our meal to consist of just rice" the teen said while placing everything he carried on the ground to start a fire pit. Not knowing what to think, my mouth just ran with "...I get to eat too?" Guv's face was showing confusion at my statement and replied "Well, yes, it wouldn't be fair if everyone got to have dinner except for you Yangus. It's only right that you get to eat too."

I just stood there thinking about the last time I hade a home cooked meal...which I think was with Red and even then we had nearly burned her house down. Shaking away that particular memory away, "Ya sure Guv, I'll wrestle us up a boar to last us a week, eh!" shouting out as I ran into the woods before Guv could say anything else. ' _A meal...I get to eat a meal that isn't dried or jarred! Thank Ya Guv!_ ' I thought to myself as I ran to find tonight's meat.

 **-Eldrake POV-**

 **A skill has leveled up!**

 **Basic Cooking: Lv 5. Next Lv 17/800.** The ability on how to prepare and cook meals. Current Level only allows you to make certain meals such as boiled eggs, rice and bread. Hint: some meals can only be made when using recipe or by having someone with the 'Culinary' Class to teach you how to cook. **10 MP per dish**

No matter how many times I see this I can never get used to it. The window showed that my skill in cooking had improved by just preparing vegetables with seasoning. Was this skill 'leveling' up because I did something different or is there another reason? Looking around to see King Trode was sitting next to the wagon looking up at the orange sky, deep in his own thought while Medea was grazing the clearing. Having nothing better to do, I began to browse around the window to see what most of these skills really do. They all show a brief description on what they do while others don't have them until I press on them. I knew what Courage could do but what about my skill with a sword? Scrolling towards it and pressing it, a new window showed up.

 **Sword:** The ability to wield this weapon against single targets. As of now you only how to hold it properly and the basic stances down. When you have invested enough PAS Points into this skill, you will be able to learn a new Sword Techniques. **16/100**

From the description it states that I'm have no skill in sword play, which is true. Seeing as I have a few PAS Points, I wonder what would happen if I put a few of them in the **Sword** slot. I thought ' _only one way to find out_ ' as I point in a few points into it.

 **You have become a Proficient Swordsman and gained the Skill: Parry**

 **Parry:** A blade work maneuver intended to deflect or block an incoming attack. This skill revolves around DEX, so the higher it is the faster you can deflect both physical and/or magical attacks.

Expecting the same thing to happen like yesterday and braced myself on the ground for the pain to come. I can picture soldiers performing this skill in duels in front of an audience, to battles of distant past that I have only read in books. All of these examples are flowing into my mind and I begin to picture myself doing the same movements. Not a minute later it all stopped. Opening my eyes to see that nothing had changed and everyone was where they were. Getting off the ground and grabbing my sword, I went into the standing position. Going through the motions of parrying, my body was still stiff but I was doing them. I continued to do them until Yangus came barreling down with a wild boar knocked out on his shoulders. Laughing at the scene, I placed my sword back in its sheath and walked over to Yangus. "Guess I better get dinner started."

 **-Third Person POV-**

Dinner was served just as the sun was just about to vanish. Eldrake pulled out the reward he got yesterday to see what it was about to pass the time before going off to bed. A book that had all of the basic theories of spell craft and how to properly manage it, all that it showed was that the spell was only as powerful as the caster is creative. After a few hours of studying the book and the moon had risen, Drake put the book back into his **Inventory** and looked to see that everyone had fallen asleep. ' _I wouldn't want to disturb them, so where can I..._ " thinking to himself as he moved to the edge of the clearing. Looking closely, he found a small animal trail that lead a bit further into the woods.

Eldrake was moving quietly as possible to not wake everyone up at this dark hour, as well as the Dracky that were around. Looking to his surroundings and seeing nothing but the distant embers if their camp fire, the teen held out his hand to cast his spell. " **Radiant** " a small ball of light filled his right hand and just stayed there. Pushing what little magic he had into it, the orb began to float few feet above his head. When he moved his hand around, the ball moved towards that general direction. "Alright, so the smaller version allows me to control the direction of the spell. So what happens if I say it again... **Radiant** " the teen said out loud and another light orb appeared in his left hand. Doing the same as the first try, Drake was having both orbs flying at the tree to see if it did any damage. What he discovered on the other hand was that if the orb was attached to a physical object, it would remain there until the spell had worn off.

Deciding to get a little creative, he made two more **Radiant** orbs and put them on trees in the four cardinal directions for better lighting. "Okay, so this is a supportive spell that can be used to; light dark areas, blind enemies, leaving markers in case I get lost and for tracking them. Assuming I could actually get good at it to use it that way."

 **For thinking of new ways of utilizing a common spell, your INT has gone up by 2!**

"So, finding new ways to use the spell makes me more intelligent...but what would happen if I changed the spell a little bit" the frilled ear male spoke as he made one more orb. When the runes appeared to make it, he watched as each letter collided with one another until the spell was finished forming. ' _This orb is made out of my magic so I should have control over it. What would it do if I split it apart_ ' Drake tried to feel his magic and ask if it could split itself apart. There was no immediate effect until he poured more magic into the orb with the thought of splitting apart. The idea worked as small dots began to lift off the six inch orb and float around, giving him the illusion that fireflies were covering the clearing.

 **A new Spell has been created!**

 **Radiant Stellae:** Through using the **Radiant** Spell as its foundation and giving the command to split apart, these minuscule orbs will seek out the nearest source of magic and cling on to it. The more magic you use, the longer the distance the orbs will be able to travel to. The command word is " **Scatter** ". **20 MP**

 **Through experimentation of discovering new ways to improve a Spell, your WIS has gone up by 1!**

"Huh, so this is a somewhat improved version of the **Radiant** Spell. But it can only go to whatever has the highest amount of magical power. At least now I know that I can modify a spell if I want to. Now for this other spell..." he looks at the window to see his second spell that he received from the **Courage** Skill.

 **Rai (Bolt of Lightning):** The User is able to launch a single ball of lightning at the enemy. **20 MP**

"Not much to go off of but then again I are a novice so here goes. **Rai**!" as soon as he spoke, A blue light emitted from his left hand and a *KRRRZZZT* sound. Looking down to see a three inch ball floating in his hand as small sparks of lightning were bouncing off it, bringing up his hand to point the **Rai** Spell at the tree, Drake made the magic in it fly forward towards the tree. *BOOM* the speed that it took to get to the tree was more than what Eldrake was expecting as it had reached it in less than a blink of an eye and it made a jagged hole in it. It wasn't a clean shot by any means, but it did enough damage to make it halfway through. "...wow...so that's what magic can do. I really need to study it" Drake said as he was looking at the hole in wonder. Fighting back a yawn as he began his walk back to camp, "But that will have to be for another time, we have an early day tomorrow. Well, time to get some sleep."

 **-0-**

 **Mission: Magic Tutor pt 1/?**

 **Find someone who is willing to teach you Magic**

 **Reward: 2,000 Exp, Spell Book, Title**

 **Failure: 100 Exp**

 **-0-**

 **Name: Eldrake ?**

 **Age: 19 Race: Human/?**

 **Class: Soldier/Lancer**

 **Title: Soldier of Trodain**

 **Level: 7 Next Level: 2,384/4,000**

 **HP: 405 HPR: 10.8 per min**

 **MP: 150 MPR: 2 per min**

 **Strength: 31**

 **Vitality: 22 (+5) = 27**

 **Dexterity: 18 (+5) = 23**

 **Intelligence: 27 (+3) = 30**

 **Wisdom: 27 (+2) = 29**

 **Luck: 8 (can not Level up with points)**

 **Points: 15 (+5 points per Lv)**

 **Money** : 205 Gold, 69 Silver, 12 Copper

 **Perks:**

 **?: +1 WIS & +2 VIT per Lv, +15% increase towards Monster Drop, +20% Reputation gain with Non-Human tribes**

 **?: +2 INT per Lv, +15% EXP towards Strategy & Tactics, +20% EXP towards Politics & Language Skills**

 **Status Effects:**

 **?: The Caster, ?, has sealed away your memories to protect the ?. Due to the seal, you have become Immune to Curse's. Permanent Status.**

 **Elemental Affinity:** **Light, Lightning**

 **Spell List:**

 **Radiant** : The User is able to make a ball of light to illuminate dark areas and possible blind their opponents. **10 MP for 30 Min (Small version) or 60 MP for 1 min (Large version)**

 **Rai (Bolt of Lightning)** : The User is able to launch a single ball of lightning at the enemy. **20 MP**

 **Radiant Stellae:** Through using the **Radiant** Spell as its foundation and giving the command to split apart, these minuscule orbs will seek out the nearest source of magic and cling on to it. The more magic you use, the longer the distance the orbs will be able to travel to. The command word is " **Scatter** ". **20 MP**

 **Skill List**

 **Passive/Active Skills: These Skills can only Lv up when you have PAS Points. Each Skill will bestow you a New Title and Ability every 10 Points. PAS Points can only be obtained be either leveling up or completing certain quest.**

 **Sword: 20/100. Proficient Swordsman - +5 Power Increase when holding a Sword, Parry**

 **Spear: 13/100. +5 Power Increase when Holding a Spear**

 **Boomerang: 5/100**

 **Fisticuffs: 9/100**

 **Courage: 21/100 Brave - Radiant, Rai**

 **Analysis/Observe: 17/100. Skill - Observe**

 **PAS Points: 7 (+2 per Lv)**

 **-0-**

 **Cast your vote now if you would like the Party to experience the Blessing from the Goddess. Head to my Profile to vote**


	5. Chapter 4: Farebury, City of Prejudice

**-0-**

Morning has come and with it a new day, Eldrake wakes up to begin the cooking preparations for the remaining bag of rice that he had on hand. He reaches into his bag to retrieve the last of his hard cheese to feed Munchie while the water came to a boil. Looking around, the young soldier sees Yangus moving the tent supplies back onto the wagon for the last leg of the journey to Farebury. The King and Medea were still sleeping in what little blankets and pillows that we could bring. Trying to improvise what to use as a mattress with the fur from Yangus's old hideout; it was hard but the king wouldn't have to sleep in the ground for what it count.

"Oy! Guv!" Eldrake turns around to see the Ex-Bandit put the last chest in the now packed wagon. "It's gonna get dark by the time we get ta Farebury. There's better places than outside to spend an evenin'!" Yangus states as he walks back to the Soldier to see if breakfast was ready. Putting the remaining rice in the pot and closing the lid, Eldrake replies "As soon as His Majesty and Princess Medea wake up; we can have breakfast, pack up what is left and be on our way to Farebury by hopefully no later than three o'clock today. That only if the monsters are being complicate."

Yangus only 'hmm' at that and began to walk over to the still sleeping King. ' _Uh oh_ ' the teen looks to see that the Ex-Bandit is taking rather long intake of air for what appears to be the beginning of a bad morning for the cursed king before having the forethought to cover his frilled ears. "WAKE UP YA OLD CODGER!""GRAAAAAHHH!" the former yelled as the later screamed from surprise and fell out of his make shift bed. The green man did not move from his position on the ground, either still in shock or imagining several ways to get back at the oaf that woke him up. Lifting his head, Trode see's a pair of stubby legs and could only twitch in frustration that was now building up. Once he got up and removed the grass stains off of him. He turned to meet the Ex-Bandit with a glare that Eldrake had not seen since he first brought the Princess outside of the castle without telling anyone. Yangus, for either having dealt with similar situations or just didn't care, smiled while bringing his hands behind his head in a relaxed manner.

"Finally awake, eh. Time for break'east, Granddad" the Ex-Bandit said which only caused the King's twitch to increase. What happened next was nothing more than sheer anger pointed towards Yangus when King Trode replied, "I AM NOT YOUR GRANDAD! EVEN MONSTERS HAVE THE DAMN COMMON SENSE TO NOT WAKE ANYONE UP IN SUCH A MANNER! A LOW LIFE LIKE YOU WOULDN'T RECOGNISE COMMON SENSE IF IT CAME UP AND BIT YOU IN THE ARSE!" the only response that Yangus gave to even listening to him was picking his nose which only made His Majesty's twitch intensify.

"Now, now, let's all calm dow-*SNAP*-!" as Drake was trying to pacify his king before hearing a twig snapping in the dense forest behind him. Grabbing his sword handle and removing it quickly, the Soldier turns around to face the area of the noise with his sword facing the direction. The King and Ex-Bandit see this and choose to remain quiet. All three had waited until another *SNAP* came from; the other side of the wagon, behind king Trode and above us. Leaves were falling towards the ground as both Drake and Yangus were looking around in all directions for this ambush. "Here comes trouble, Guv! We're surrounded!" The Ex-Bandit stated as he moves to position himself between the sounds and the King. Slowly moving to place the Princess and King between Yangus and himself, Drake looks in every direction before replying "I have about six over here, you?"

"Roug'ly nine, Guv. At least we get a good warm up for the day" he said before the sound around them came to a halt. Waiting for them to make any noise was, Drake moves his sword to his right hand while moving his left towards the side. ' _If what His Majesty says is true, then every living being has at least a small amount of magic within them. So even the Monsters should have the same potential, let's hope that they have more magic than all of us put together'_ Eldrake thought as he was scanning his surroundings and shoots a quick look behind at Yangus still in position. "Yangus, Follow the light and take them out. **Radiant Stellae, Scatter!** " the soldier yelled as he began pumping magic into his left arm where the ball of light began to form before splitting apart into miniature orbs and flying in two different directions.

"ATTACK!" At the command, both Soldier and Ex-bandit followed the orbs to the first target. Slicing away the foliage, Drake comes to see a Slime bounce away from the orbs that were trying to stick to it. Without a second to spare, Drake brought his sword down on the distracted slime. The attack had cut the slime in half before it burst into golden light; the white orbs began to move to the next source of magic within the area. Glancing back at King Trode and Medea and seeing them alright, Eldrake moves to his next target.

"GET BACK HERE, YA LITTLE BUGGERS!" *KRRAAACCK* Yangus's voice could be heard as he began to punch what Drake could only assume was another tree that was in the Ex-Bandits way. Coming across Slime in the same previous situation as the first, the Soldier brought his left hand out and aimed at it. " **Rai!** " *KRRRZZZT* Drake shouted as the small ball of lightning formed and launched itself to the monster. *BOOM* unfortunately, the Slime kept hopping around which caused Drake to miss and making the ground explode. " **Rai!** " *KRRRZZZT* He casted the spell again and ran towards it to reduce the distance it would have to travel. Once the Soldier was close, he let it fly *BOOM* and saw it the monster burst into light. ' _So I can at least kill Rank G monsters with_ _ **Rai**_ _alone but still need practice in how to handle it in actual combat_ ' He thought to himself as he took down another slime and followed **Radiant Stellae** to his last target.

Seeing as the orbs were turning towards the central clearing, Eldrake ran past the orbs and right behind the monster that was making its way to the Royal Family. Before it could make an attempt to Dodge, the Soldier brought his blade down as fast as he could to finish it off. He stayed in that position until the Slime exploded in light. Looking to scan his surrounding, Drake sees the miniature orbs have caught up to him but instead of floating to the next target, they were floating around only moving if it latched onto the wind. "Oy, Guv!" Drake turns around to see Yangus walking back with more than a few pieces of tree bark and leafs over him. Shaking himself like a dog would after having been forced to take a bath, the Ex-Bandit yells out "That should be the last of them. The magic balls aren't moving like before, eh."

 **Exp +25, +25 Cooper, 2 x Medicinal Herbs**

The white window had popped up again to show what Yangus said was true, Drake returns his blade back to its sheath and release a sigh that he was holding in. "Well...They certainly took us by surprise. But nothing we couldn't handle, eh!?" Drake turned around to see King Trode dusting himself off next to Medea. Yangus takes another look around, "We 'ad best eat quickly and make a move, before more show up" before sitting down next to the steaming pot. The Soldier nods and begins to serve everyone while Medea begins to graze. While everyone was eating, Drake goes over to the pile of fur to put them away onto the wagon for the next time they will need to camp outside. After placing the fur on top of the vases in the back of the wagon, the soldier miss stepped his landing and fell into the wagon. *CRASH!* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG*

 **-35 HP**

 **370/405 HP**

"Oowwww..." Eldrake moans out while closing out the window and trying to move some to the items that fell on him. "Ya alright there, Guv?" Yangus's voice being muffled through the rotting wood, moving to a more stable position, the Soldier leans out of the wagon to see the Ex-Bandit looking in his direction. Drake smiles and says "Everything is fine. I just lost my footing when trying to rearrange some of the items" while looking back inside to see if anything was broken. Yangus only nodded and continued to heat up the boar meat from yesterday while King Trode was wiping utensils with a 'clean' rag. Medea was laid on the ground, trying to have what would appear to be a conversation with Munchie. "?" Drake tilted his head at the actions that the princess was doing and wondering what they were talking about but deciding against it as it most likely something only animals can do.

Placing everything back I its proper order, Drake comes across a small black pot with white markings etched all over its surface. There were three large circular sockets on the face of the pot. ' _I don't remember seeing you around the Castle..._ ' the Soldier thought to himself as he removes the lid to look inside and finds the inside covered in runes etched into the pot. Putting the lid back on, Drake lifts the pot off the floor when a window shows up again. "I am starting to become rather annoyed with you...well let's see what it says...?"

 **?:?**

"That's odd...Let's try using **Observe**...Huh?" Eldrake mutters to himself when trying to cast the spell when a new window showed itself.

 **You do not have the proper skill to analyze this particular item. Invest PAS Points in the Analysis Skill Tree to obtain a higher skill.**

"Well, that's new...I suppose it wouldn't hurt to see what you are. **Status** " the new window popped up and Drake was already scrolling towards the skill tree. Seeing the one that was suggested, he taps it and a window with a brief description shows up.

 **Analysis:** The detailed examination of elements or structure of something, typically as a basis for discussion or interpretation. **17/100**

 **Learned Skills**

 **Observe:** The ability to obtain information on a physical level. This skill may only allow the User to see the **Name** , **Lv** and **Title** for people/monsters. Once you get to know a person, the information will be updated. For monsters, it will show its Rank to determine its strength.

"So **Observe** can only show me information about monsters and people. then if I were raise the Analysis Skill, would it show me information that I should have no knowledge of?...Well, let's raise it to twenty as that would appear to be when I have received any skill and spell. Hopefully I won't get a massive headache like yesterday." the Soldier said while putting three points into the skill to become **20/100**

 **You have become aware of the Items in your possession and obtained the Skill: Appraise**

 **Appraise** : This ability allows the User to estimate the price or value of certain items. At its current level, the User may have a rough estimate of what the item is truly worth (33% chance of accurate value) and a brief description of the Item. This skill relies on the Users **INT** and **LUK** stat to have an accurate description of the item in question.

 **For beginning to understand the 'Divine Blessing' and how it works your INT has gone up by 1**

Bringing his hands to rub the mild pain coursing through his skull, the Soldier begins to see hundreds of items flooding his mind. Raw materials flying around him as they began to form different shapes until they become products that he himself uses on a daily basis. Drake must have seen thousands of items flying before his very eyes when they had all just vanished in an instant. "I don't believe I will ever get use to that" he said while rubbing his eyes to soothe his mental frustration and the colors still in his vision. After a minute passed, Eldrake looks to the black pot and speaks " **Appraise** " before another window showed up.

 **Appraise Failed!**

' _I knew it wasn't going to be easy, so let's try again_ ' " **Appraise** ".

 **Appraise Failed!**

For the next minute, Drake has attempted to see what this pot is to no avail. Figuring that the pot was something exceedingly valuable or this skill was not worth it, he removes the cloth from another vase to double check. " **Appraise!** "

 **Appraise Success!**

 **Arianna's Vase** : A vase to commemorate the crowing ruler of Trodains 34th First Ruling Queen after the passing of her late husband. Her rule began at the age of 27 and lasted until her 76th birthday when she passed the throne onto her only grandson. **Value** : 900 Silver - 18,200 Gold.

Eyes widening at the single vase, the Soldier slowly puts the cloth back over the vase and cast a look one last look at the mysterious black pot. "Oy, Guv. Break'east is ready! You done yet?" Yangus yelled out as Drake puts the pot in the corner of the wagon where it wouldn't move around as much while closing the windows to not obscure his vision. Moving around the chest and vases, the Soldier hopped out of the wagon and made his way to the fire pit to serve breakfast to an eager Ex-Bandit and a scowling King.

 **-0-**

After breakfast was eaten and the fire put out, the four of them began their journey once again towards the main road to Farebury. Not much monster activity happened on the main road due to the Highway Patrol stationed at key points, but when the party arrived at one they found it to have not been in use for some time. King Trode's scowl became even more intense at the lack of common procedure that his military is supposed to enforce. The only reason for the lack of patrols is to increase the security of Farebury during a national state of emergency or by the Ruling Lords command. News of Trodain could not have traveled this quickly since the only survivors were traveling by foot and the perpetrator was last seen heading eastward. Several hours have passed before the party could see the outer walls of Farebury...and a vertical line of black smoke rising to afternoon sky.

 **-0-**

"Your Majesty, if I may voice my thoughts on how to enter the city..." the Trodain Soldier looks back to see Trode pulling the reigns lightly to inform Medea to come to a stop and nods. Eldrake looks back to the front to see that it would only be another two miles or so until they reach the West Gate of the circular city. "Thank You. Getting into the city shouldn't be a problem, even with the increase of security detail, but it is when we enter the city that may cause an issue. Seeing as how you may frighten the townspeople with your uh...appearance" the Soldier tries to word it delicately but King Trode could only response to it was tightening the reigns out of frustration. Drake waited a few seconds before continuing, "I know it isn't ideal but we may need to cover you in cloth to avoid being...mistaken for a monster."

The atmosphere only grew heavy as the silence from the King continued until he let out a long sigh. "Sigh...I suppose you have a point, my boy. If it can help our search for that foul Dhoulmagus, I suppose I can cover myself for the duration of our stay. Rip off some of the cloth in the back and hand it to me. Never thought that sewing lesson from mother would actually come to be of use" the green man said as he pulled out his bag to search for thread and a needle. Drake leaves Medea's side to retrieve some cloth to help the King make a hijab to cover all of his face. After finding the most durable cloth that could pass for clothing, Drake brought it over for Trode to sew. It was sloppy and crude work but after a several remarks and bloody fingers, the hijab was now wrapped around King Trodes head and just in time for Yangus to come running back down the hill from scouting ahead.

"Hah...hah...Yer right, Guv. Hah...Somethen weird is happening. There were so many guards at that gate it made me itchy all over" The Ex-Bandit said while scratching his chest and head at the same time. Not wanting to cause any problems, Drake had asked Yangus to run ahead and see if there were any guards posted on the walls surrounding Farebury. ' _At least there are soldiers here...but the number doesn't add though_ ' the frilled-ear teen thought to himself just as King Trode lightly informs them that they should get going now that all of his skin has been covered. It would take twenty minutes before the tower walls began to rise above our heads and the guards brought out their weapons, pointing them all at us.

"HALT! STATE YOUR NAME, OCCUPATION AND PURPOSE FOR ENTERING OUR FAIR CITY OF FAREBURY!" the center guardsman yelled out while holding a spear directly at Medea. Placing a hand on the Horse Princess's neck to keep her calm, Drake looks at the man that would appear to be in charge of this unit. "My name is Eldr-!" He tried to say before the spear that was once pointing at Medea was now dangerously close the Drakes throat as the Guard looks at him with a fierce glare. "NO ONE WAS ASKING YOU, AYAKASHI!" the man yelled out and most of the unit moved their spears towards the Trodain Soldier, on top of the walls, several archers had gotten into position and notched their arrows and awaiting the signal from down below.

"OY, OY, OY!? WE AINT DONE NOTHIN' AND YALL READY GONNA KILL US!?" Yangus screams out while King Trode was wearing a shocked face, hidden behind the hijab, at what was happening. They weren't even in the city and the people were already starting to attack them. ' _What is that damned imbecile of a noble trying to do!? The actions here will only grow to fester if nothing is done. We have to get out of here quickly but we need to handle this situation delicately or we may face the chopping board_ ' the King thought as he coughed to grab the guards attention. "Ahem, my god lad, my name is Jean Han. I am traveling across the Eastern Continent to donate my possessions to the church that I have brought with me from Savella Cathedral before I begin my holy pilgrimage to the Isle of Neos. This is my..." King Trode spoke while gesturing to Drake with forced tone to remain calm given the circumstances. "...Stable Hand. I had purchased him because to perform mundane task and to assist my...horses needs."

Drake, Yangus and even Medea looked back at the King in wonder at his attempt to pull the wool over their eyes. "The oaf to my right is my hired hand to deal with monsters plaguing the roads. Now, is that all or do you require anything else from me" Trode said quickly while the guard still pointing their weapons at Eldrake. A moment passed before the Head Guard removed his spear and brought it back to his side, the rest followed afterward. "We are sorry to impede your sacred pilgrimage, Sire. Farebury is currently under martial law right now due to an incident within her walls and Duke Gavan has ordered all personnel to check everyone coming and going. If you and your companion would move to the side so that we may verify that you are not carrying anything that may pose a threat" The Head Guard lifts his hand to the side while two soldiers moved to the wagon. King Trode hopped off the driver's seat and walked next to the side as instructed. Yangus moved next to him while giving the King a glare that had several of the guards back away from the look. When Eldrake tried to move, he was stopped by the Head Guards arm.

"I do not believe I asked you to move, Ayakashi. Your master was the only one I asked to step to the side. Search him." At the command, three guards came rushing from the side and pushed Drake to the ground. Two of them were holding him with his hands and face locked, while the other ripped the bag and sword off. Seeing this, Yangus was about to punch their lights out before Trode grabbed the waist band of the Ex-Bandits boxers. Yangus turns around to yell at the King that was letting this act happen until Medea let out the loudest sound she had made. *NNNEEEIIGGHHHHH* the Horse Princess lets out as she begins to buck back and forth. Seeing this, the green king acts "LET HIM GO SO HE CAN CALM HER DOWN AT ONCE!" The guards get off the Soldier and he quickly moves to Medea. Seeing that Drake was in front of her, Medea had stopped bucking and placed her face into his chest. He slowly pats her neck to give the guards the illusion that he was calming her down while he whispered a "thank you" to her.

Several minutes passed as the guards were moving the chests and vases out of the wagon to inspect. Once they had checked, they would put them back on the wagon and send the signal to open the outer gate. King Trode hopped back in his seat and grabbed the reigns to move the wagon into the city as Drake and Yangus walked beside the Princess. "May the Goddess guide you on your path, Sire" was the last thing the Guards said to the party before the gate closed, but the look within their eyes was anything but cordial. Now that they were inside the walls of the city and were waiting for the inner gates to open with their only light source being torches lining the walls. "WHAT THE BLOODY 'ELL WAS THAT!?" Yangus screams out while stomping towards the cursed king. "HOW COULD YA LET THE GUV BE TREATED LIKE THAT!? I'VE SEEN DOGS TREATED BETTER THEN THAT!? WHAT THE 'ELL KINDA COUNTRY YA RUNNIN' HERE! I OUGHTA-"

"Yangus...That's enough" Drake says out loud for the Ex-Bandit to hear. Yangus could only stare at him "But Guv, that ain't no way to treat anyone. I know I ain't a looker meself, but at least people who I meet in cities don't do...THAT. Why didn't ya fight back?" "Because it would have ended in either throwing us in jail or Eldrake's execution" King Trode said solemnly as his grip tightens around the reigns. The Ex-bandit looks back with a confused look, "eh?"

"Yangus, where are you originally from, if you don't mind me asking" the Soldier asks as he strokes Medeas mane to distract both her and himself from what happened. "...I came from the south. Place smacked dab in the middle of nowhere but what does that have anythin' to do with what just happened" he answers his confused look. Eldrake looks to him and replies, "It's because the Eastern Continent Law only protects men, women and children. There is no law that protects the other Races." The Soldier removes his bandana to let his brown hair cascade down to his transformed ears. "I didn't think about it because I thought that my ears were such a small change, but I was wrong. You see Yangus, most of the nobles are allowed to rule their cities as they see fit as long as they obey the laws that His Majesty passes. There was a loophole within the law passed several decades ago to show equality to every man. The Nobles caught this and began to exploit it to their own benefit. They had tried to bring in a variety of Races under the guise of 'potential employees' to work on the fields as slaves but-" the Soldier looks behind to see the King pinching the bridge of his nose out of frustration.

"But Slavery in any form was abolished and anyone, regardless of status, who was practicing it, would be severely punished; their land taken back to the Crown and in some cases death for how many slaves were captured. I had tried to salvage the situation, it lead to a riot from those who were captured to fight against the Nobles which lead to a bloodbath for weeks. Now the Nobles who were affected from the riots passed a ghost law stating that a Human can treat another Race however they like and claim it to be self defense. Since then, Trodain has been trying to improve the relationship with the other Races but it is a long struggle." Trode replied while rubbing the frustration at the one mistake he has done since taking the crown. A gust of wind blows across the party as the inner gate began to open. Drake repositioned his bandana above his head try and cover up as much of his ears as he could before the gate fully open. "Let's just hope Master Rylus isn't like the guards since his retirement" the King mumbles out.

The wagon slowly began to move forward with the Soldier walking behind the wagon. He looked back to see that Yangus hadn't moved with a balled up fist that was beginning to turn purple. "Just one more ques'ion Guv...What was that word they said?" the Ex-Bandit said with a dead tone that would chills to anyone. Drake could only stare at him before turning around to catch up to the wagon before saying "In a past language it means...Demon." *CRACK* the sound resonated across the tunnel as the Ex-Bandit punched the wall, creating spider web cracks that extend only a foot in diameter. By the time Eldrake got to the now opened gate, Yangus was running across the tunnel to catch up.

 **-0-**

Farebury, a city built to process goods to trade with the villages around the northern half of the continent. The city layout is equal to 1.78 mile radius with the plaza as its center. There are three tiers within and a staircase bisecting the northern half of the city. At the First Tier or The Ground as the locals call it consist of; the citizens housing, City Plaza and the Bazaar of passing merchants. On the Second Tier holds the Merchant Guild, Stores, Library and the Church of St. Sebastian. The Final Tier is home to the Noble homes, Military Barracks and the Academy. The first two are accessible to the public while the later is under tight guard as only those with permission from the ruling Duke may enter. A population of Four thousand, the city has maintained its position in Trodains Council for the last four hundred years. The Party now find themselves at the Western Gate on the First Tier.

 **-0-**

People were rushing across the main path to where ever their destination led them. The scent of baked bread and spices from the Bazaar filled the air as Eldrake and company moved to the central plaza to begin their search of Master Rylus. The houses were built attached to one another to increase the population and ease to rebuild in the case of an invasion. When they had reached the end of the civilian housing, Drake saw that there was no house at the end but an entire plot scorched in ash and debris. "?" thinking that it may have been an accident caused by a kitchen fire and the military wasn't able to control, he put it to the back of his mind as the large fountain came into view. When they were directly next to the fountain, King Trode got off the wagon and looked around through his hijab.

"Alright, this place should serve as a meeting spot for when we need to meet up, my boy. We have a lot to do and not much day left to get it all done" the green man said while looking up at the sky to see the position of the sun. Drake looks around to see several soldiers talking to a group of women who kept looking over their shoulders at them. They would only get a quick glance before turning back to the soldiers. Small children would run around the plaza but would make a large detour around them. Looking above, the Trodain Soldier could see several archers in position on top of the roof tops. ' _Not very discreet, are they_ ' he thought to himself as brought his focus back to the King. "-chant Guild should be open until sunset, which then you should check the local Inns for us to stay the night. I shall meet you here when the sun is down. And Drake" Trode spoke as the Teen looked directly at him. "Do be careful."

"Of course, Your Majesty" Eldrake said and gave a short bow to him as he turned around with Yangus walking on his left. "Well Guv, It seems like it's up ta us ta find this Rylus guy but any clue as ta what the guy looks like?" Yangus said as he moved his hands behind his head while casting a glance at several old men whispering amongst themselves. Drake dug into his pocket to retrieve Munchie and place him on his shoulder so that he could get some sunlight, the small mouse in response only brought its paws to rub its face while looking around in curiosity. "Unfortunately no, I have never met Master Rylus in person but I'm sure that the town's people have an idea where he lives. Though acquiring information may be a tad difficult for the moment due to my...circumstances."

Yangus brought his attention back to his front and said "You're the Guv, Guv. You're better than most people that I came ta met along my travels. If anyone gives ya trouble, let me know so I can giv'em a Yangus Special" while punching his fist into his hand for dramatic. The Soldier could only chuckle at the thought of Yangus sitting on top of a pile of beaten towns people. "*chuckles* Thank you for your concern, Yangus but I wouldn't want you to revert back to your old ways. But it was a nice gesture." The Ex-Bandit only smiled as he jumped up two steps at a time at the staircase. When Eldrake made his took the first step, the white see through window appeared once more. "I thought it was to quiet, so let's see what you...huh?"

 **Due to the Trust you now have with Yangus, you may now impart the Blessing 'Divine Regalia' to him. Would you like to give him a 'Divine Regalia'?**

 **Yes No**

"What on earth...Yangus hold on a sec" Drake yells out for the Ex-Bandit to stop half up the stairs. Turning around, Yangus gave a confused look at the sudden stop while Drake tried to understand what this new window meant. After a minute passed, the Teen looks up with an odd look at Yangus. "Due you trust me..." Drake said while the Ex-Bandit tilted his head at the statement and gave a "Yeah, Guv. O'course I trust ya."

Looking back at the window, Eldrake brought his hand up and pressed ' **Yes** ' and a bright white light erupted all around the two. "AAAAAAAAHHH!" "BLOODY 'ELL-AAAAAAHH!" both men screamed while the latter trip on his own foot and came tumbling down the staircase with a *CRASH*. Rubbing his eyes from the light attack, Drake mumbled out "Well, that was unpleasant" before a new window popped into existence.

 **Congratulations! You have given a 'Divine Regalia' to a True Friend and have unlocked a new Category called 'Divine Regalia of the Heavenly King'!**

Seeing this, Eldrake looks to the ground to see a knocked out Yangus. But the strange thing was that now there was a red window floating a few feet away from his face. Looking back at his own window, the Soldier closed it out and called out " **Divine Regalia** " for a new window with more information to show.

 **Divine Regalia of the Heavenly King -** By choosing to impart a portion of the Blessing ' **Divine Body** ' to those who you have earned their trust, you will be able to allow others to experience their life as a **?**. For those who hold a ' **Divine Regalia** ', they will be able to utilize; an Individual Inventory, Recovering 50% of HP/MP while sleeping in a bed and a Unique Magic/Skill. Only the one who possess the ' **Divine Body** ' Skill may utilize Stat/PAS Points to those who hold a ' **Divine Regalia** '. **Note:** By giving a ' **Divine Regalia** ' to others, the Holder of ' **Divine Body** ' will never be able to use this type of Magic/Skill for the remainder of their life.

 **Divine Regalia: Armills**

His eyes could only widen at what he was reading. He was looking back at Yangus and the red window, then back to the description at the implications that the Soldier has just done. Hearing a moan from the ground, Drake looks to see Yangus moving himself into a sitting position while rubbing his now sore eyes. "No offense Guv, but I don't see what I did ta deserve that...eh?" the Ex-Bandit now able to see again was staring at the red window. None of them moved as Yangus just kept staring at it before checking his head for any bruising. "I seem ta have hit me head rather hard this time. Now I'm seeing a red box floating in me face. Guv, I may..need...ya..." his voiced died in his throat as he was starring at the window clutched within Eldrakes hands. The Ex-Bandit just kept looking back and forth between the two windows with his face turning into an astonished look as Drake tried to speak but it would be too late for what happened next.

"COR BLIMEY!" Yangus screamed out for the local pigeons to take flight from the area and the citizens of Farebury jumped at the sheer volume of the voice.

 **-0-**

 **Name: Eldrake ?**

 **Age: 19 Race: Human/?**

 **Class: Soldier/Lancer**

 **Title: Soldier of Trodain**

 **Level: 7 Next Level: 2,401/4,000**

 **HP: 405 HPR: 10.8 per min**

 **MP: 150 MPR: 2 per min**

 **Strength: 31**

 **Vitality: 22 (+5) = 27**

 **Dexterity: 18 (+5) = 23**

 **Intelligence: 28 (+3) = 31**

 **Wisdom: 27 (+2) = 29**

 **Luck: 8 (can not Level up with points)**

 **Points: 15 (+5 points per Lv)**

 **Money** : 205 Gold, 69 Silver, 27 Copper

 **Perks:**

 **?: +1 WIS & +2 VIT per Lv, +15% increase towards Monster Drop, +20% Reputation gain with Non-Human tribes**

 **?: +2 INT per Lv, +15% EXP towards Strategy & Tactics, +20% EXP towards Politics & Language Skills**

 **Status Effects:**

 **?: The Caster, ?, has sealed away your memories to protect the ?. Due to the seal, you have become Immune to Curse's. Permanent Status.**

 **Elemental Affinity:** **Light, Lightning**

 **Spell List:**

 **Radiant, Rai (Bolt of Lightning), Radiant Stellae**

 **Passive/Active Skills:**

 **Sword: 20/100. Proficient Swordsman - +5 Power Increase when holding a Sword, Parry**

 **Spear: 13/100. +5 Power Increase when Holding a Spear**

 **Boomerang: 5/100**

 **Fisticuffs: 9/100**

 **Courage: 21/100 Brave - Radiant, Rai**

 **Analysis/Observe: 20/100. Skill - Observe, Appraise**

 **PAS Points: 4 (+2 per Lv)**

 **-0-**


	6. Chapter 5: Escape

**-0-**

 **Farebury, Second Tier, 1:57 A.M.**

"Find the Ayakashi! It couldn't have gotten out through the gates so keep looking Men!" one of the Soldiers yelled out to their subordinates as they were charging through the alleys to search for their target. The citizens were either looking out from their windows to see what all of the ruckus was or grabbing any type of weapon they had on hand to search for the monsters that plagued their city. Once the Soldiers received their orders, they fanned out to cover more ground leaving the acting Captain alone to secure the area. Scanning his surroundings, the Captain draws his broadsword from his back and swings it behind him. He stops his blade from connecting to a sleeping cat on top of a barrel. The white cat stretches its legs on its side before resuming its slumber. "Tch, damn cat" the solider curses as he leaves the alley way to continue his search.

After several minutes had passed and voices could be heard a few houses away, the lid underneath the cat was lifted slowly to reveal the target of Farebury's Military. Placing the cat to the adjacent barrel, Eldrake got out of the barrel with a few groans. Looking at the side, there was a label that read 'Jumping Jack Ale Whiskey' and the Ex-Soldier took a whiff at his clothes only to smell nothing. "Okay, not sure how I got in there but..." he said to himself as he puts the lid and now awake cat back on the barrel to see the cat starring at him with a bored look. When the lid was fastening tightly, a new window appeared.

* * *

 **A skill has been created due to a special action! You have learned the Stealth Skill!**

 **Stealth: Lv 1. Next Lv 32/100.** An ability to remain undetected for longer periods of time by using the surrounding areas to the Users advantage. At higher Levels, the User can remove their scent and sound they make while hiding.

* * *

"...Is it a safe assumption that you have something to do with the circumstances that lead me to where I am now?" The Teen said the cat while closing the window out of frustration, Eldrake looks up to see said cat staring at him and let out a "Miaow". They both just stared at each other, not daring to let up before Drake sighed in defeat calling out his ' **Inventory** ' and plunging his hand into it to retrieve what was promised to the Cat. ' _How did I even get into this situation in the first place?_ ' Eldrake thought as he looked at the window that was requested of the cat and began to remember just a few hours ago, when Yangus was expressing his shock for the entire city to hear.

 **-First Tier, Central Plaza 3:14 P.M.-**

Yangus was still in his 'COR BLIMEY!' position as he kept starring at the red window without saying anything. Sensing the people were staring at us, the Ex-Soldier sighed as he moved to the fountain to see a small bucket on the side. Picking it up and filling it with water, Eldrake came back and poured the water above the Bandit. Several blinks after the fact had finally snapped the Bandit out of his stupor as he shook the water off of him like a wet dog. "Okay, Yangus, I'm going to explain everything that I know as slow as possible because this is a whole new experience for me so let me start at the beginning" Drake said as he described as best he could on the events from his perspective from his 'Death' to the 'Tutorial' and leading up to when they first met. It took a majority of the hour but Eldrake was able to explain most of what he found out.

The Bandit looked back at the Soldier and the red window as before pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing "This is all a little hard ta believe, Guv, but I ain't callen ya a liar when this floating box is smacked dab in the middle of me face". Scratching the back of his head, the Ex-Soldier looked around once more to see that the soldiers were beginning to move from the rooftops while everyone else was staying as far from them as possible.

"Perhaps we should go somewhere where we won't attract any more attention to ourselves. Is that alright Yangus?" Drake said as he made his way from the staircase leading to the Second tier towards the Bazaar. Walking down the road, the two were able to mix into the busy streets while losing a portion of their 'Audience' in the process.

When they moved behind some of the stalls to see a group of soldiers run past them, they waited for the group the second group to run past before sitting on some of the crates. "Do you have any questions you like to ask? I'll try to answer them as best I can but it might not be enough as I'm still trying to figure this out as well" Eldrake said as he pulls out a block of cheese to feed Munchie.

As the mouse began to eat, the Ex-Bandit grabs the side of the window to test and see if it was real, "How do I get rid of it, eh?" The Ex-Soldier moved around to see the front and pressed the ' **X** ' in the right hand corner as it vanished.

"If you want to bring it up again, all you need to do is say ' **Status** ' and it should like so" the frilled-ear teen said as he demonstrated with his own white window. Yangus looked skeptical before saying " **Status** " and the red window appeared once more, showing him all about himself.

* * *

 **Name: Yangus**

 **Age: 31 Race: Human**

 **Class: (Ex) Bandit**

 **Title: Bandit Lord of Pickham**

 **Level: 16 Next Level: 3,118/16,000**

 **HP: 1,900 MP: 60**

 **Strength: 71**

 **Vitality: 86**

 **Dexterity: 36**

 **Intelligence: 15**

 **Wisdom: 19**

 **Luck: 37 (can not Level up with points)**

 **Points: 45 (+3 points per Lv)**

 **Perks:**

 **Resident of the Slums: +3 VIT per Lv, 20% resistance to Fire attacks and +25% Reputation gain with those affiliated within Slums**

 **Tomb Raider: +1 STR and LUK for ever Dungeon Conquered, +10 DEX when exploring Ruins made by Non/Humans**

 **Elemental Affinity: N/A**

 **Description** **: One of the Three Lords of Pickham, Yangus controlled the Military portion to defend against monsters and Marauders on a daily basis. Due to personal reasons, Yangus left Pickham to pursue a life free of crime but stumbled back into it after reaching the Eastern Continent. Now he is on the path of ending his Bandit life with the help of the Guv (Eldrake).**

* * *

"Wow..." Drake said as he looked at the Yangus's stats and could only be impressed that even though the Ex-Bandit was a few levels higher than himself, He could easily handle anything that was thrown at him and wondering how he was able to survive against Yangus.

"So, eh, what do these numbers mean Guv?" Yangus asked which led to the discussion of stats and their distributions. Eldrake told the Ex-Bandit how he used all of his to increase his **STR** to pull him up when the bridge was destroyed. After remembering that incident, they continued on with the explanation to look at Yangus's skills.

* * *

 **Passive Skills:**

 **Divine Armills:** This Ability is a Sub Category given to you from Eldrakes ' **Divine Body** '. **Size Manipulation Magic** \- Allows the User to Increase/Decrease the size of Objects tenfold. The duration effect will be dependent on how the user applies this magic. **Note:** This Magic can not affect any sentient being with the ability to think.

 **Intimidation** : **Lv MAX.** Able to install fear into others with a mere glance and cause to blunder for several seconds. Has a 25% chance to affect Humans and a 15% to affect monsters.

 **Wilderness Survival: Lv 49. Next 78/49,000.** Allows the User to live off the land and endure the elements. 19% resistance to Ice attacks and 48% chance of obtaining items from Beast Monsters.

 **Stealth: Lv 17. Next Lv 752/4000.** An ability to remain undetected for longer periods of time by using the surrounding areas to the Users advantage. At higher Levels, the User can remove their scent and sound they make while hiding.

 **Languages** : the method of communication between the Races, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way.

 **-Human (English, Yorkshire Dialect): Lv MAX. Speak the Tongue of Man**

 **Passive/Active Skills** :

 **Axe: 42/100. Axe Fighter - +5 Power Increase when holding an Axe, Increased chance of critical hits with axes, Helm Splitter, Hatchet Man.**

 **Club: 19/100. +5 attack power when equipped with a club or a hammer.**

 **Scythe: 14/100. +5 attack power when equipped with a scythe**

 **Fisticuff: 44/100. Regional Champ - +25 attack power when unarmed, 10% agility when unarmed, Knuckle Sandwich**

 **Humanity: 5/100.**

 **DRA: 10/100. Adept - Expand**

 **PAS Points: 16 (+2 per Lv)**

 **Active Skills** **:**

 **Taunt: Lv 27. Next Lv 2941/5000.** An ability to throw insults at others and forces the affected target to run towards the user to attack. It has a 27% of affecting the target. **20 MP per Use**

 **Pick pocketing: Lv 39. Next Lv 4900/6000.** A form of larceny that involves the stealing of money or other valuables from the person of a victim without them noticing the theft at the time. **5 MP per use**

 **Lock picking: Lv 22. Next Lv 122/5000.** This ability grants mastery over the picking of mechanical locks, enabling you to bypass even the tightest security. You are able to unlock; small chest, doors and windows. **30 MP per use**

 **Spell List** **:**

 **Expand:** Able to increase the size of any object that the user has come into contact by **x2** for **5 Minutes**. **20 MP per use**

* * *

"Size...Manipulation Magic? Why would it give a description and magic on a type of bracer?" Eldrake said to himself as he looked at Yangus's skills through his own window. Looking up, the Ex-Soldier saw on his friends wrist were silver Armills with an interesting design on them; at the base appeared to be a square heart that didn't connect at the top, four triangles were placed at both the upper left and right corners of the heart and two long parallelograms above where the heart didn't connect.

"Yangus, where did you get those" Drake spoke out loud as he was pointing to his wrist for the Ex-bandit to look at his own. The next thing that happened was Yangus trying to remove them from his body with a lot of difficulty as he kept knocking into crates with his large body.

"Cor Blimey! These damn things ain't com'n off, Guv!" Yangus cursed as he applied all of his strength to remove at least one of them with no success. Drake takes a look underneath to see if they could bend the metal, only to see that there was no opening of any kind. After several minutes passed, the Ex-Bandit had given up on trying to remove the Armills and sat on the ground in defeat.

"Alright Guv, no more surprises. Is there any'ing else about this hocus pocus I should know 'bout?" Yangus sighed as he starred up at the cloudy sky through the tarps. Going back to the window to see what else the ' **Divine Regalia** ' offered as it didn't explain the physical manifestation of it, Eldrake began to explain the ' **Inventory** ' aspect to wrap up this discussion so that they could buy their supplies. Yangus got back into his sitting position and look mildly interested as the explanation came to an end.

"If ya had this type of thing ta begin with, than why did we have ta bring that run down wagon" The Ex-Bandit asked as he started to pick at his ear with his pinky. Drake looked at him for a second before looking up to try and explain his actions for holding secrets to his King and Medea.

"Because...how do I explain to His Majesty that I could use a never before heard of magic when I barely have a week of experience of using it. It was just a simply solution to avoid more problems that His Majesty and Princess Medea do not need on their plate right now...Once things calm down, I'll try to explain to them what happened but I doubt they will believe me" the frilled ear teen solemnly said as he got up from the crate to look around for more guards if they were passing through the busy street. He turned back to see Yangus back on his feet and doing a stretching exercise where the Ex-Soldier could hear cracking sounds from his joints and a smile of approval.

"Alright Yangus, we have a lot to do now since this...' **Divine Regalia** ' popped into our lives so here is what we need to do. I'm going to head to the Bazaar section of the city and hopefully the merchants will allow me to buy what we need. I need you to head back to the wagon and see if you can put everything in your Inventory. If something doesn't go in, leave it and we will figure something out later. Once you have that done, either head to the Merchant Guild and wait for me or stay with His Majesty and the Princess if you see someth-!" Drake stop as another two squad units ran passed their position. One squadron was a precaution for unidentified threat, multiple squads running through the city were unheard of and against protocol, even during martial law.

"On second thought, don't go to Merchant Guild. Instead go to His Majesty and the Princess as soon as possible and get out through the West or South Gate. Do what you need to do to break out through the Gate and wait in the forest leading to Alexandria till morning. I'll get as much supplies as I can and meet you outside" the Ex-Soldier rushed out of the alley way and into the direction of the bazaar. Seconds later, a new Squad came running past the hiding spot to chase after Drake. The Ex-Bandit just stared at the direction of where Eldrake and the soldiers were before running back to the plaza to find King Trode and the wagon. "Don' worry, Guv. Noth'n gonna hapen to them as long as I'm around, eh."

 **-First Tier, Bazaar Section 4:36 p.m.-**

"Huff...huff...If nothing else...huff...these soldiers are really persistent" the frilled ear teen coughed out as he began to inhale as much air into his lungs. Running around the city was exhausting as the Guards were trying to find him under the pretext that Eldrake had been causing civil disturbance near the Central Plaza. ' _One of them must have seen Yangus fall down the staircase and decided that it was enough to have me arrested. But that does explain the number of them_ ' he thought as he moved from one stall to the next, looking at what was being sold. Seeing a grocer stand, Drake goes over to see what's left.

"Hello there, how can I help you" the merchant spoke with a polite tone, the first pleasant conversation he had since entering this city, as Eldrake looks over the products. Said Merchant was tanned skin from either working in the fields or having come from the Southern Continent, had a bushy mustache and wearing a white turban. Looking to the right side of his open stand was a large display of fruits consisting of; apples, pears and strawberries with prices ranging from 4-18 copper per pound. Next to them were a variety of vegetables; carrots, peppers and leeks with their prices going for 9-22 copper per pound.

"I'm currently shopping for a trip across the continent and wondering if there is a limit to how much I can buy?" the Trodain Soldier asked while picking up a leek and using ' **Appraise** ' to see the quality of it.

 **Bundle of Leeks:** A vegetable that has a mild, onion-like taste **.** An ingredient mainly used in stews. **Value: 8 copper per lb**

"Not many people ask that as most of our prices are calculated to appeal to families but yes we can sell you in bulk if the price is right" he said while bringing out pieces of paper and an abacus to tally up the order. Putting the leek down, Eldrake turns back to the merchant who had called one of his workers to bring a table and chairs to begin negotiations.

After looking through the sheets of paper and the temporary sitting area made, the Merchant looks up to explain "I have about ten crates of fruit and sixteen barrels of vegetables on hand. I can't sell them all to you so only six crates and twelve barrels can be sold now. As for the price...I'm going to ask for **40 silver** and **60 silver** for the barrel".

"If you're willing to go to **37** for the crate and **58** for the barrel, I'll buy everything" the Trodain Soldier said without batting an eye. The statement caught the merchant by surprise as he wasn't expecting such a deal and stuttered out a "W-w-what?!"

Reaching into his bag and calling his ' **Inventory** ' to reach for the money had in it. Once he pulled the amount that he believed would be correct, removed his hand to reveal **6 gold** and **48 silver** coins to place on the table. The merchant could only stare at all of the gold coins before him and remained in silence.

"Also, I am willing to even it out to make it a total of **10 gold** if you can bring me to shops in the Bazaar that are on my list" Eldrake said while picking up the silver coins and adding a **4 gold** coins to the pile and a list of items that King Trode had given him this morning. A minute passed in silence as the merchant shot up from his seat and turned to his assistant "Please prepare our customers order in one of the carts out back and close the shop by the time that we return in half an hour."

* * *

 **Due to your actions of haggling in the shortest amount of time, your LUK has increased by 2!**

 **The Skill "Bartering" has leveled up!**

 **Bartering: Lv 7. Next Lv 207/1700**. The ability to alter the price of an Item to either increase or decrease its original value. At the current Lv, the User can only go up to a 7% Increase/Decrease of the market value before you lose respect from either Buyer/Seller. **24 MP per Item/29 MP per Bulk**

* * *

Drake could only blink at the window as the assistant began to run behind a curtain in the back when he closed it, he looked at the Merchant handing him a receipt for his order and the gold coins gone from the table. Taking the receipt from his hands, the merchant leads the Ex-Soldier from his shop to continue shopping for supplies. The first stop was a stall that sold camping equipment for mercenaries and pilgrims. The prices ranged from thirty copper for a single cloth tent to **50 gold** for a Merchants Home, a weather resistant tent built for luxury when on the road for the everyday merchant and noble. An illustration of what the tent would look like showed; Twenty eight feet diameter living space, eight wooden support beams to hold it up, twelve bundles of rope and the cloth made from 58 Whackanape hides of the Western Continent. When negotiation were taking place, the Food merchant points out to the quality of the tents and giving instructions on how to maintain them. This continued until Eldrake agreed on a Merchant Home set and other supplies to maintain the upkeep for a total of **46 gold**. This was process for every store that they went to for twenty minutes until they completed a full circle of the bazaar and came back to the Grocer stand. The total cost for everything was **93 gold** coins for everything and **50 silver** to rent the cart.

What Eldrake purchased was; **6 Fruit crates, 12 Vegetable barrels, 1 Merchant Home** (tarp, iron stakes, shovel, etc) **,** **4 barrels of Salt and Pepper, a crate of Dried Mackerel, 12 sacks of Rice, 6 barrels of Water, Outdoor cookware** (Knife set, 3 large iron pots, etc.) **, 30 cotton shirts and pants, 10 bags of Oats, a new Leather Horse Saddle and Horse Grooming Kit**. Shopping proved to be worthwhile as Eldrake was able to raise his ' **Bartering** ' Skill another **2** levels and obtain **5** points to his **LUK** stat as a bonus. After a cart was pulled up to the front with all of the items that he had purchased and bidding goodbye to the merchant, the Ex-Soldier began to lead the horse pulling the cart out of the bazaar section and heading towards the central plaza. Moving to the back of a few houses as to not be seen from the local militia, Eldrake moves all of the item from the cart into his ' **Inventory** ' to at least lighten the load for the workhorse. Looking at the square pictures of all the items he bought, he unhooked the horse from the wagon and led it to the side of the house where some citizen will take it back to its rightful owner, hopefully. Gazing at the sky to see that dusk has come and he needed to meet up with Yangus outside of Farebury and began to head for the West Gate. Well, that was the plan until a rather large battalion surrounded him when he entered the plaza.

Thirty Spearmen had already drawn their weapons while the archers were running into position over the second tier walkway that extended outward to surround the plaza. A lone soldier walked forward sporting full plate mail with their faced covered in an iron helmet and the crest of the ruling lord of Farebury. "Is there somet-!?" Eldrake tried to speak but was cut off as an arrow flew past his head, creating a wound on the right side of his head while taking his bandana off in the process.

Bringing his hand to cover the wound, the Officer spoke in a bored tone and not even batting a none seen eye at the scene before them, "As with accordance with Martial Law, all rights have been temporally suspended until either Duke Gavan or His Majesty King of Trodain decree it so. You have been found guilty for the crimes stated; Illegal entry of a human settlement, plundering of Trodain taxes, disturbing the peace, assault, murder and importing monsters into Farebury. By my judgment as acting captain of the 13th battalion, you are to be apprehended and appear before Duke Gavan for questioning. Any resistance will be taken as obstructing military affairs and you will be sentenced to death by any means necessary". The Captain raised his left hand in the air, the standard signal for all long ranged weapons to be notched and to wait for the signal to fire.

* * *

 **Mission: Find anything of Value to become a Merchant - FAILED**

 **Due to your reputation reaching to a certain point before completing this Mission, you will now have to pay a Higher Tax Rate at every Check Point before entering a New Country.**

 **Titled obtained: 'Pariah of Farebury'**

 **(-10 for STR and VIT, +5 for INT) This Title will cannot be removed until you have safely escaped the land surrounding Farebury. If you have killed any Human during this time, the debuffs will increase per kill by -1.**

* * *

Even when the new windows came up, the Ex-Soldier did not move not because he couldn't but was trying to contemplate what the Captain said. ' _Monster...Murder? This doesn't add up, I can assume that the monster bit would refer to His Majesty disguise had either failed or their just trying to pull out an outdated law for my appearance...Why am I calm in this situation?'_ looking around to see a potential escape route through the guards near the southern end.

 _'...One problem at time. Twenty four archers above me and three dozen foot soldiers around me. The best solution would be to..._ ' Eldrake thought as he raised both hands slowly above his head to show them that he was not giving any resistance.

"With all due respect, Captain, I thank you for your hospitality..." The Ex-Soldier began to speak with a dry tone as runes appeared above his head and everyone took a step back from shock, "...but now I need to return to my benefactor and escape from this dung heap you call a city. **Radiant!** "

* * *

 **-60 MP**

 **Mission: Escape from Farebury**

 **Escape from the Soldiers who are after you and meet up with Yangus in a safe location**

 **Bonus: ?, ?, ?**

 **Reward: 8,000 Exp, 20 Gold, +5 VIT**

 **Bonus Reward: ?, ?, ?**

 **Failure: Death**

* * *

From his position, Eldrake was able to at least blind all of the soldiers in the plaza and forced the archers on the second tier walkway to take cover from his attack. Taking advantage of the situation, He ran through the encirclement and towards the residential district to at least put some space between them.

"DAMN IT! AFTER THE AYAKASHI, NOW!" the now enraged Captain yelled out as he tried to rub his eyes to clear away the irritation he was now feeling. The soldiers under his command were all groaning as they tried to walk but kept running into each other. Hearing several of his men plummet to the ground, the Captain could only ground his teeth as he muttered, "Tch, of all of the damn Ayakashi in the world, we had to run into one that can use magic. The young Master is not going to like this."

 **-Second Tier, Merchant Section 7:19 P.M.-**

" **Radiant!** " Eldrake yelled out as a small bright orb appeared floating near his right side and pointed towards the soldier charging at him within the deserted alleyway. The orb shot off heading towards the general direction, the pursuer seeing this came to a complete stop and brought up his shield to deflect the spell as best he could. When nothing happened, the Soldier looked up from his weapon for another attack, but all he saw was the ball of light was now stuck to the outer shield and the caster was no longer in the area.

"Ugh...not again, it's bad enough we have to chase this guy all over the place but these stupid orbs are giving our positions away at this time of night. Goddess only knows what will happen if these things decide to explode" the grumbling soldier said as he threw the shield to the ground. Taking one last glace over the spot where his target was, the soldier let out a heavy sigh "Might as well report to the Captain..." and began to drag his already tired body back to the plaza. A minute past in complete silence before Eldrake fell out of his hiding place, a second story laundry line above a stack of empty crates, and crashed in to the pile of wood. *CRASH!*

"Huff...huff...cough cough...Owww...huff...s- **Status**...oww..." Eldrake coughed out as he tried to calm his still racing heart from all of the encounters he had to dodge.

* * *

 **Name: Eldrake ?**

 **Age: 19 Race: Human/?**

 **Class: Soldier/Lancer**

 **Title: Pariah of Humanity**

 **Level: 7 Next Level: 2,401/4,000**

 **HP: 47/180 HPR: 0.5 per min**

 **MP: 2/180 MPR: 2 per min**

 **Strength: 31 (-10) = 21**

 **Vitality: 22 (-10) = 12**

 **Dexterity: 18 (1/4) = 14**

 **Intelligence: 28 (+8) = 36**

 **Wisdom: 27 (+2) = 29**

 **Luck: 15 (can not Level up with points)**

 **Points: 15 (+5 points per Lv)**

 **Money** : 102 Gold, 19 Silver, 27 Copper

 **Status Effects:**

 **?: The Caster, ?, has sealed away your memories to protect the ?. Due to the seal, you have become Immune to Curse's. Permanent Status.**

 **Sprained Wrist (Left): A status ailment that causes the User to experience pain when using that particular limb and gives a penalty for Dex depending on the severity of the wound. Taking rest and waiting for HP to restore will remove this ailment.**

 **Fatigue: A status ailment that causes the User to experience tiredness resulting from mental or physical exertion. Taking rest and waiting for MP to restore will remove this ailment.**

* * *

"Huff...so...so I need rest to remove...huff...these...ow?" Drake said out loud to himself as he removed the debris that fell on top of him carefully while not trying to aggravate his left hand. Hearing yelling from across the alleyway, the now beat up Ex-Soldier began to make his way towards another corner to escape from his pursuers. Several minutes passed before another Unit passed his hiding spot and silence remained in the back streets. Looking slightly around the next corner, Eldrake made his way slowly into the open area before stumbling to the ground from exhaustion. The teen could hear his own heartbeat thumping in his ears as he tried to figure out where to go next.

"Miaow" A low bass sound radiated in front of him as he tried to lift his head to see a fat white cat with pink stripes across its back. It was wearing a wooden sign around its neck that read 'If you ask for a favor, I will help so long as you can pay my price -nyaa' in black ink. Looking above the sign in confusion and casting an ' **Observe** ' on this 'Cat?' to see if this wasn't part of some delusion his mind made up for the teen.

* * *

 **Ryōta - 'Bakeneko of Farebury' - Rank: ?**

* * *

"Cough...ha ha...cough cough...ow, I suppose you wouldn't know...Cough...where I could stay safe, would you?" Drake whispered out before passing out, leaving his unconscious body lying on the ground with the White Cat. Said cat lowered its head to drop the sign around its neck to hit the ground before walking over to Eldrake's body.

"Miaow" it let out a before the shadows around the building began to slither on the ground encircling the two of them. The shadows began to move off the ground to form a dome and when it closed, began to sink into the ground. When the top sank beneath, a shadow of a cat appeared on the wall and began to move across it.

* * *

 **You have accepted the Bakeneko's Contract**

 **A safe location from Humans = 100 Gold**

 **-Present Time-**

* * *

Seeing how the window didn't disappear, Drake removed a small bag containing **100 Gold** from his ' **Inventory** ' and placed it next to the ' **Bakeneko?** ' on top of the barrel. The Cat picked up the bag with its teeth, jumped to the ground from its resting place and walked around the corner from the Ex-Soldiers sight. Walking to said corner out of curiosity, Eldrake peeks around to see where the 'Cat?' was going only to see that it had vanished.

"...Note to self; find out what a Bakeneko is in case I've started to lose my mind. First thing I need to do-" he spoke out loud before he felt a something light hit the top of his head, just hard enough to grab his attention. Looking up, Eldrake saw clouds covering up the sky as the momentum kept piling up.

"-Well my luck can only improve from here, right?" mumbling to himself while glaring at the sky, Drake lifts his orange overcoat over his head before making his way through the maze of closed stores. The rain made enough noise to cover his footsteps as Drake made the last alleyway to see an open area leading to the Third Tier. Scanning his surroundings for any more persistent soldiers, Eldrake slowly walks out. Taking precaution as to not step on any large puddles, the frilled ear teen looked across the area at the gates leading towards the Noble district on the Third Tier when a new window appeared.

* * *

 **Due to your Diligence to not arouse nearby enemies and your unique genealogy from your parents, a new Skill has been created and Stealth has increased by 1!**

 **Hearing: Lv 1. Next Lv 45/100.** Allows the User to listen in on others conversations from a distance. With enough practice, one can listen to several people talking at the same time. Maximum range is 50 feet and increases range by 1 foot per level.

* * *

 **"-f all the shifts we had to take, it has to rain on ours! The Captain has issues to force us to work this in this weather"** Drake heard as he closed the window and looked to see where the voices were coming from. Hearing footsteps coming from the other side of the house next to him, Eldrake moves back to the alleyway's entrance just as the pair of guards enters the area.

As the Ex-Soldier was about to leave, the second guard began to talk **"So what ever happened to that little green monster near the South Gate yesterday? I was too busy running through the residential district with the Captain to know what happened."**

 **"From what I know, it caused more trouble than the Ayakashi. It fought back with nothing but a stick against most of our weapons. Then this fat oaf shows up and destroys the entire unit's formation. By the time reinforcements came, everyone was knocked out around the wagon and a portion of the South Gate was destroyed. The strangest thing out of all of that was when we went to seize all of the gold in it, it was completely empty."** the first guard said as they arrived under an extended roof to wait out the storm.

Drake hearing this let out a sigh of relief at knowing that Yangus had made it. Hearing the guards continue with their discussion, Eldrake turns back to the alleyway to look for a new way to escape when he heard loud footsteps coming towards his direction from the alleyway. A cloaked figure runs straight past him heading towards the central area, ' _Shit!_ ' were his only thoughts as he ran towards the alleyway once more. taking as many turns as possible, the Ex-Soldier continue his way through the labyrinth of homes for several minutes before he took a right turn into a dead end.

Turning around, he was surprised to see the cloaked figure standing between his only exits on their knees huffing. Looking behind figure, Eldrake didn't see any of the soldiers with them as he had originally thought. Extending his right hand out, runes began to circle around his palm as he began to speak as the figure lifted both hands above their head. "Please...wait..." the voice was soft and barely audible due to the rain crashing down but was heard thanks to the ' **Hearing** ' skill.

"I'm terribly sorry to come running after you like this. It's just that...I wanted to ask you a favor" the now recognizable feminine voice asked she removed the hood of the cloak to show twin braids of gray hair and bright indigo eyes upon a youthful face. Judging by her clothes and that there was hardly any makeup on her, the Ex-Soldier determined that she wasn't part of either a Noble's house or a merchant's daughter. Looking above to see her name as to get what he was dealing with.

* * *

 **Valentina - Lv 5 - Apprentice Soothsayer**

* * *

"I'm afraid that I am a little short on time as half of Fairbury's militia is currently after me, Miss. Valentina. If you do require assistance, why didn't you ask the soldiers to help when you ran past me?" Eldrake said as her eyes widened when the he spoke her name. Since she didn't bring any soldiers with her and appears to unarmed, Eldrake was willing to hear her explanation before he decided to look for the nearest escape but if her title meant anything then she was bound to find him again. Who knows if the next encounter would be any better than this?

"Uhm, well...I uh...I saw it in a dream that someone with unique ears and an strange creature that was...half way between a human and a monster would be help me..." She said as she brought her hands together in a prayer. Thunder began to clap in the sky causing the air to vibrate. The Apprentice tried to keep herself calm but her hands were trembling from the sound. Seeing this, Eldrake moved to rub his now damp hair out of frustration and awkwardness of the situation.

"...If you can find a way to get me out of the city, then I will listen to your request. Does that sound fair?" he said as he saw her smile at his acceptance. Valentina rushed over to grab his hand and began to lead him through the alleyway. This continued for another ten minutes until they were at another dead-end that was rather large containing; a few potted plants on one of the houses front steps, empty laundry poles and a well. She began to lead him to the well as she took hold of the rope.

"This leads to one of the only entrances into the water ways beneath the city. The soldiers shouldn't know about it as it was Lord Gavan had they sealed ages ago. But I used to play in them as a child, so it is the safest route to leaving Farebury right now" She said as her voice began to echo as she descended into the well. The Ex-Soldier looked in to see how far it would go but all he saw was a black abyss eating rain droplets. Grabbing the rope to follow her, a new screen appeared before him.

* * *

 **Underground Waterway Dungeon**

 **|Party: None|**

 **|Guest: Valentina|**

 **|Night Effect: On|**

* * *

"This is turning out to be a very long day" Drake sighed as he lowered himself into the well to catch up to his guide.

 **-0-**

 **A new poll has been added, so try to find the Easter egg(s) in this chapter. If you can find one, I'll give you a sneak peek into one of the Divine Regalia (Only the Item, not the Power). If you find them all, I will listen to one request from your review.**


	7. Chapter 6: The 1st Dungeon

**A/N: Sorry for the late update, you all know how it is. Well here is the longest chapter to date. Enjoy**

 **-Eastern Forest-**

"WILL YOU PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT, YOU BUMBLING OAF!? I CAN RUN BY MYSELF!" the 'current' King of Trodain yelled from the shoulder of Yangus. Said carrier was trying to hold Trode over his left shoulder like a sack of potatoes and a black pot under his right while running through a thick portion of woods in the middle of a rain storm at night. Thinking to the events after he left Guv to save these two, it has been one problem after the other, what with an entire battalion chasing them through the forest and a red window popping up every time Yangus tried to put the pot into his **[Inventory]**.

* * *

 **ERROR!**

 **THE [?] IS IN NEED OF [?, ?, ?] TO FUNCTION!**

 **YOU DO NOT HAVE THE PROPER 'SKILL' OR 'TITLE' TO UTILIZE THIS [?] WITH YOUR CURRENT SELF!**

 **ERROR!**

* * *

"PUT ME DOWN, YOU IDIOTIC RUFFIAN!? EXPLAIN YOURSELF AT ONCE! HOW DID YOU MAKE THE SOUTH GATE GROW TO SUCH A RIDICULOUS SIZE!? STOP FLAILING THAT ITEM AROUND; IT'S WORTH MORE THAN ALL OF THE LAND WITHIN TRODAIN!? STOP IT, I SAY!" Trode continues to wail at the storm above all three of them as they make their way through the forest eastward, the rain and thunder having no effect in dampening the king's voice.

"Tell ya what, ya Old Codger, when we see the Guv again I'll let ya down but till then..." Yangus stops momentarily to slide his hand occupying the green king towards the flailing feet. "...TAKE A NAP!"

 ***CRASH***

Trode only had a moment to process what the Yangus said before being knocked out by a sturdy oak tree. Said tree wasn't as fortunate as the force from Yangus's attack caused a large indent with the shape of said king's face in the bark.

* * *

 **A Special Skill has been created through a unique action! You have learned the [Power Strike] Skill!**

 **Power Strike: Lv 1. Next Lv 1/100.** A skill that allows the User to strike any target with a strong force. **10 MP per use**

 **15% Increase in Critical Rate.**

 **50% Increase in Attack Power.**

* * *

Reposition Trode over his shoulder and closing out the window, Yangus takes but a moment to look back and see red specks of light in the distance. Turning back forward, he could barely make out a small niche in the cliff wall. "This way, 'orse princess!" he shouts out as he makes way towards the niche with Medea right behind him.

Entering through the opening is a bit of a tight fit for both Medea and himself. Throwing the Old Codger and black pot through the entrance and seeing that the green menace landed on a pile of mud facing the ceiling, Yangus moved to the side to let the princess enter while he looked for something to cover the entrance. The lights from the soldiers torched could be seen rushing towards their location as the Ex-Bandit lifts a boulder off the ground and makes his way back to the niche. Once there, Yangus began to wiggle his way with difficulty while moving the rock in front of the entrance and placed his hand on it.

" **[Expand]!** " the Ex-Bandit yells out as two rings of runes began to form a round of the Armills and flow towards the rock. The boulder began to glow a soft red as it started to grow in all directions. Retracting his hand, Yangus looks to see the rock had cut off the entrance for the time being.

* * *

 **For Using the environment to your advantage your INT has increased by 2**

* * *

" **FIND THEM!** " a voice screams across the dark forest. A low thumping sound of metal clanging together and the stomping on the wet ground could be heard from behind the now enlarged boulder. Yangus remained within where he was until he could no longer hear them; the Ex-Bandit makes his way through the last stretch to the room where he sees the cursed princess lying against the wall with her father still unconscious by her side.

"Ain't ran so far from people try'n ta gut me since Red caught me snooping in her dresser drawer..." Yangus mumbled to himself as he moved to the other side of the small area and plopped to the wet ground, the rain outside was all that could be heard. Looking up from the ground, the Ex-Bandit could see that Medea was staring at the entrance with a tired gaze. He removed some flint from his pocket and knife from his waist, Yangus began to strike them together to get a spark going for a little light and warmth.

"No need ta be worried 'bout the Guv, 'orse Princess. Just get some shut eye cause we gotta find some place safe ta let this all ride out. Would ya know a place like that, eh?" he asked while trying to move what little timber there was around for a small fire. The cursed princess turns back to her current guard and gives a small nod after a minute of processing what he asked. Looking around, Medea bends her neck down to the ground and picks up a flimsy twig with her teeth and draws a circle in the mud.

Yangus seeing what she was doing moves closer to get a better look with what little light was produced. What he sees on confuses him more; a large circle, an arrow head below it pointing at the circle with an 'N' above it, a long rectangle far to the right and slightly above it was what looked like a broccoli crown. Blinking at the drawings, Yangus looks up to see the princess was staring straight at him with a patient look.

"So what's it I'm lookin at?" he said as Medea begins to draw a line at the bottom of the circle and moves it in a zigzag pattern towards the broccoli picture. The princess moved back to the circle's top and began to write as best she could. The first letter was an **[F]** , then an **[A]**. This continued until Medea had let go of the twig fall to the ground. Yangus could barely see it with the ambers dying out but he could make out a portion.

"...Fa...reb...Fare bee? Fairy? What does this 'ave ta do with a safe place, 'orse princess?" Yangus was holding his head in frustration at trying to decipher what was before him. Medea only looked towards the ambers of the make shift fire pit before neighing the Ex-Bandit towards it. Moving back to rekindle the fire with whets left of the debris, he turns back to see what the princess wrote.

"Fare...bury? So the circle is suppose ta be Farebury?"

Nodding at the statement, Medea picks up her twig once more and points to; her father, Yangus, herself and the zigzag line's middle. She repeats this process several times for Yangus for when he looks confused or lost.

"And the line is us...? Or is it our path?"

Nodding once more, she moves the end of her twig to the end of the line connecting to the broccoli picture. Medea makes an **[X]** just to the right of it and taps on it multiple times for Yangus.

"So, this **[X]** is gonna be safe till the Guv can find us?"

* * *

 **For deciphering Princess Medeas plan without her uttering a word, your INT has increased by 1**

* * *

' _Why do I get the impersion that this box is having a girafe_ ' Yangus thought with a slight twitch in his eye as closed it with more force than necessary. Looking back to the entrance, the Ex-Bandit could see that the log had returned to its original size and decided to stamp out the remainder of the embers in the pit.

"Get some shut eye, 'orse princess. We got a lot a ground ta cover ta lose them tin solders" was all he said as he laid on the only dry ground and closed his eyes. Medea looked towards the entrance for a few minutes more before resting her head next to her father in exhaustion.

 **-Underground Waterway-**

"I don't understand..."

"Is something wrong, Miss Valentina?" Drake asks as he hears his guide further below him. The rain continues to poor from the mouth of the entrance above them as they continued to make their way down.

"We should have already reached the bottom of the well and see the canal leading to the outer wall. This is the right entrance, I'm sure o-huh?" the Seer stops her train of thought. At the abrupt silence, Drake stopped his decent and tried to get a look at where his guide would be.

"What happened?"

"I...I seem to have run out of rope. I can tell as I can feel the bucket that should be at the end of the rope to draw up water" Valentina stated quietly as though she was going to be reprimanded. The silence would have been deafening if not for the rain falling down upon them. Drake takes a look below him at the glaring abyss below and looks above at the entrance.

"...Miss Valentina, may you close your eyes for just a moment" he said as he made sure that he had a firm grip on his literal life line. Drake extends his left hand towards the supposed bottom. " **[Radiant]!** "

The orb of light appeared at the tip of his finger lighting the wells inside that he could see Valentina just above said bucket. A flick of his finger sent the orb to fly straight down past his Guide and further downwards. The light was getting dimmer the further away until there was only a white dot below. Seeing this, Drake began to steady his breath for what he was about to do. " **[Radiant]!** " he said once more as another orb of light came in existence.

"A magic that allows you to create light in a dark area, it's been awhile since I've seen magic. But now isn't the time to reminisce as it would seem that we still have a ways to go. Maybe we can go back up and retrieve some rope fro-" the Seer stated as she looked back up only to feel a slight gust of wind rushing past her and the orb still floating above her. To her dismay, Drake was no longer above her.

The wind running through his hair, he could hear the sound of his clothes clapping together through the sheer force of Drakes decent. the light from the first **[Radiant]** was growing bigger with each passing second as Drake looked to see what he would land on. He positioned himself for the inevitable when he saw the orb and the ground constantly moving.

 ***SPLASH***

* * *

 **-37 HP**

* * *

Water filling in the gap that Drake created, his momentum had carried him all the way to the bottom of well. Taking a moment to get a sense of his surroundings, Drake kicks off the bottom and begins to swim to the surface. following the white shape that was moving with the ripples, the frilled ear teen kicks faster as his lungs begin to burn for air.

 ***SPLASH***

* * *

 **A Special Skill has been created through a unique action! You have learned the Swimming Skill!**

 **Swimming: Lv 1. Next Lv 9/100** A skill to propel the body through water by the use of limbs.

 **25% Increase Speed while within water**

 **+15 seconds of Air Capacity for every 2 levels**

 **Total Air Capacity: 1 minute**

* * *

"GASP...cough cough cough..." filling his lungs with much needed air, the Ex-Soldier wipes away the stray beads of water in his eyes to see and closing the window. Moving the **[Radiant]** spell to get a better understanding of the area, Drake was surprised that the bottom of the well was much larger than what Valentina had described.

The ceiling was dome shaped with the wells entrance at the peak with rain still falling inside. There was no decay or moss covering the walls as far as the teen could see with his spell. There is iron grates spaced every so often with water pouring out of them like waterfalls. Looking towards the ground where the dome meet the water he was swimming in was a large wooden door. Seeing no other means leaving, Drake makes his way towards the door.

The closer Drake came to the door, the ground beneath him rose until he was only ankle deep in water. Reaching into his coat pocket, the teen pulled out a wet pile of brown fur that was once Munchie. The mouse took this moment to shake off the water covering his fur before he jumped off of Drakes palm into the shallow water and made it to a dry patch of land to clean himself.

"Sorry about that Munchie. I'll give you a proper apology when we meet with King Trode, Yangus and Medea" he said as he removed his orange coat and shirt, deciding to place his clothes into his **[Inventory]** to be cleaned at a later date, Drake runs his hands through his hair to remove some of the access water still clinging to him. Now bare-chested with only his; sword  & scabbard, leather satchel, wet trousers and boots, he looks at his feet and removes his them to drain the water from them.

Flipping them over to remove the excess water, Drake begins to squeeze the water out of his trousers as best he could and reaching down for Munchie to sit on his leather satchel on the only dry area he could see. Once he was relatively dry for the most part, he turned around to stare at the wells entrance and brought his hands up to cup around his mouth for his voice to carry to his guide.

"MISS VALENTINA, CAN YOU HEAR ME!"

"... **yes** "

Though her voice was small due to the distance and rain, his **[Hearing]** skill was able to pick up what she said.

"I'M AFRAID THAT I'M GOING TO HAVE TO ASK YOU TO EITHER LET GO OFF THE ROPE IF YOU STILL WISH TO GUIDE ME OR TO RETURN HOME. IF YOU DECIDE TO RETURN HOME, JUST CLIMB BACK UP AND TOSS THE BUCKET INTO THE WELL."

"... **I can't go back** "

Raising an eyebrow at the statement, Drake looks at the entrance for but a moment before he hears the sound of constant flapping and sees a ball of brown and violet falling straight for the water.

"SHIT?!" Rushing back into the water, Drake wades quickly before diving back to retrieve Valentina.

 ***SPLASH***

Finding the air bubbles where she impacted, the Ex-Soldier began to swim diagonally towards the bottom. As he reached the bottom, a new window appeared to the left of his vision.

* * *

 **0:42**

 **0:41**

 **0:40**

* * *

' _So this is how long I can hold my breath_ ' Drake thought as he swam towards what he assumed was his guide, what with the brown cloak and long hair floating freely. Grabbing her midsection, he pushed off the ground beneath them and swam towards the surface. The process was slower than before with the added weight.

* * *

 **0:15**

 **0:14**

* * *

 ***SPLASH***

Breaking the surface once more, Drake makes his way to shore while moving the immobile Valentina to a better position. Once able to reach the ground, he quickly waded through to find a dry patch of land to lay his guide down. Looking over, her chest was moving indicating that she had ceased breathing. Removing the heavy cloak, Drake tries to remember what to do in situations of drowning.

"Uh, of all the times to forget Mother Giselle's lessons" drake muttered to himself as he tried to search for the answer through his memory. Catching movement in the corner of his eye, he turned to see Munchie scurrying across Valentina's body till he was sitting upright onto of her heart. Seeing as the mouse had his attention, the rodent began to jump several times before running towards her chin and pressing most of his face to her lips. Munchie did this once more before looking at Drake.

Slowly nodding, the frilled-ear teen moved his hands over where her heart would be and began to press hard multiple times before moving to her the next step.

"Goddess on high, forgive me" he muttered as he tilted he head back slightly and began to push air into her. Drake repeated this process for a minute before Valentina's eyes shot open and twisted her body sideways and expelled a large amount of water. She continued this until she was panting from the pain in her lungs.

"...Are you alright, Miss Valentina?"

The only response that Drake could get was her heavy breathing and a slow nod.

"Alright, just try to rest for now and let your clothes dry out. I'm going to scout ahead" Drake said as he got off the ground and looked to see his pet mouse was staring at him.

"Could I ask you to stay with her until she is well enough to move?"

Hearing a squeak, Drake looks to see the mouse rush past him and sits in front of Valentina. He turns around to face the lone door and walks towards it while grabbing his boots. Once there, he unlatches the wooden bar locking the door and slowly opens it.

Looking through the entranceway, three paths presented themselves before Drake. All looked the same with water flowing from grates positioned above him and small canals near his base of the wall. The sound of water was all he could hear from either direction.

Closing the door behind him and reaching into his **[Inventory]** , Drake pulls out a white cotton shirt and a single apple and places it onto the floor. Without looking up from the fruit, he makes a right turn and heads down the path he assumes is eastward while putting on his new shirt and maneuvering the sheath to be a bit more comfortable.

Several minutes pass before a small figure leaned around the corner to see a bright red fruit on the ground.

 ***SLURP***

 **-30 Minutes Later-**

After running into two dead ends, a broken ladder attached to the upper portion of the dungeon and casting another **[Radiant]** spell, the Ex-soldier made his way back to Munchie and Valentina. Turning around another corner Drake sees the one thing he didn't want to; an apple core covered in a black substance.

Removing his sword slowly, Drake looked further down the corridor to see if what ate the apple went back in that direction. There was no trail of the black substance anywhere else to indicate its whereabouts.

 ***SLURP***

His muscles locking at the sound, Drake looks up towards the high ceiling as that was where the sound had originated from. Not being able to see so far above him and not wanting to give the monster or monsters a reason to attack he spoke " **[Observe]!** "

* * *

 **Black Slime - Lv 8 - Creature of Farebury - HPR - Rank E**

* * *

At the sound of his voice, the shadows on the ceiling began to move and fall directly on top of him. " **[Radiant]! [Radiant]! [Radiant]!** " Drake yells out and points towards the walls to try and get some base of his surroundings. The area being bathed in light showed a dozen Black Slimes on the ground now. The monsters were barley a foot in height and their body's had an onyx gleam to it. The strangest thing was that it didn't have any eyes that a regular slime would show where its face was.

Steadying his blade, Drake watches the closest slime began to bounce in place before jumping straight at him. Bringing the blade to intercept the slime, Drake felt little resistance as the monster was cut in half and its pieces falling behind him. Casting a glance back, he could see the pieces were moving back towards each other and forming its shape once more.

' _So that's the Slimes trait. This might take a while..._ ' Drake runs towards the slime behind him and slashes at it once more. Hearing the others begging to bounce they're way over to him, he moves his sword as fast as possible until it finally burst into light. Although he took down one, slime made contact with his back with more force than Drake thought possible for a monster of its size.

* * *

 **-27 HP**

 **HP 153/180**

* * *

Rolling with the attack, Drake swings his sword horizontally and manages to make a cut on his attacker before it regenerated itself. He brought his palm out towards the slime and yelled out " **[Rai]!** " as the runes appeared and formed the ball of electricity. The spell shot forward hitting its target but the orb quickly vanished once it touched the slime. There were a few bolts of the spell running over its body before that too vanished.

"Now that's just not fai-WOAH!" Drake wanted to complain before two more slimes tried to use the wall to ricochet itself towards him. Dodging to the left, his arms began to move by itself as it slashed another slime in half as it tried to use the same tactic. Moving fast, he brought his sword on top of the monster just as it reformed and cut it into multiple pieces. Once he could tell that the slime was turning into light particles, Drake made a sharp turn and brought his blade to a defensive form as another slime slammed into the flat of the blade.

This went on for ten minutes until Drake had finally killed the last of the slimes. Falling to the ground with sword still in hand, his breathing was ragged with sweat pouring down his face. Trying to calm his rapidly beating heart, a new window appeared.

* * *

 **HP 112/180 MP 138/180**

 **Exp +2,088 +6 Gold**

 **Your Level has increased by 1**

* * *

Closing the window, Drake took a look around to if anymore Black Slimes were around. Moving the **[Radiant]** orbs around to get a better look, he saw the light reflecting off the ground when an orb was flying past several spots. moving towards where the spots where he saw a small jar no bigger than his pinky and what looked like a crystals scattered all over the floor. Picking up the crystal and jar, Drake used the **[Appraise]** skill to determine what they were.

* * *

 **Black Gel Poison** **-** A common poison that when released into the air would cause any who inhale it to suffer hallucinations for several minutes.

 **Small Mana Crystal** **-** The physical manifestation of magic. A main material when used in **(?)**.

* * *

"...why didn't these items go into my **[Inventory]** like the time with the Buffalo Wing or the Slimes?" Drake asked as he went around and picked up three bottles of poison and eleven crystals. After a quick glance around and seeing nothing else did he place them in his **[Inventory]** and resuming his way back to the entrance. Making several more turns and killing four stray Black Slimes did Drake finally get back to the wooden door. Checking his surroundings once more and seeing everything was quite did he open the door.

Looking inside he could see that Valentina sitting on the ground rummaging through her bag. She had removed her rain cloak and shoes and was wearing a simple white dress. To her side was an orange apron and red scarf still drying from the looks of it. Munchie was for some reason sitting on top of her head and when Drake closed the door did the mouse turn around. Letting out a loud squeak, Munchie rolled of the seers head, onto the edge of the dress and make his way to Drake. Hearing and feeling the weight shift, Valentina turned around to see Drake bending down to pick up his mouse and place on his shoulder.

"Welcome back and thank you for rescuing me" she said as she got off the floor and bowed her head in gratitude. Looking back up from her bow, she saw that Drake was staring at the door where he came from.

"As long as you are well, Miss. Valentina but if you would mind explaining a few things for me before we set out" he said as he began to explain the Monsters and area in more detail while showing her the three paths from the door. Drake decided to withhold the information about the poisons and crystals for even he couldn't explain that. Once he said everything, he could see Valentina complexion grow pale.

"...A week before I had the dream about you and the Half-monster and Half-man, I had another dream but thought nothing of it as it didn't make any sense to me. So I went to father if he could interpret it for me. When I did he was quite for a while and asked me to stay in the house until his return. I waited in our home for four days before the night of the fire happened. The town was in a frenzy trying to put it out.

"When afternoon came around, the fire was under control and several soldiers came to my home to inform me that my father was speaking to Duke Gavan about the cause of the fire. Knowing that this was a normal habit I was expecting my father to return that night. When he didn't come back I decided to go to the tavern he visited incase he was there and when I asked the barman if he has seen my father, he said that it has been six days since he last saw my father."

Giving his full attention to her, Drake pictures a calendar of all of the events taking place. After doing so he adds what's happened to Trodain and sees something odd. "What was the dream you told your father about?"

"The dream I had was of Duke Gavan floating off the ground with shadows clinging to their arms and feet. It looked like he was a marionette of a puppet show. When I looked at the audience, all I saw were Slimes staring at him. When I looked back at Duke Gavan, the shadows vanished and he crumbled to the ground. A voice echoed all around saying ' **Lets Begin** ' and I woke up. I didn't really understand what the slimes were about and thought that they were just people, now I'm not sure anymore" Valentina said softly as she was holding herself to try uncover what her dream really meant.

"Okay, I may need to ask some more questions when were finally out of here but thank you for answering the ones I have now" he said as he didn't want to push her any further. Every time that she mentions her father she looks as if her nails would puncture her skin from how tight she was squeezing.

She nodded and went to put on her apron and shoes while Drake went back to the door to check if any monsters were standing around. He could hear two Black Slimes were coming from the left path and would be either pass them or stop outside of the door. Looking over his shoulder, he could see that Valentina was right behind him with her damp rain cloak over her shoulders.

"Do you know which path to take? I tried the path on the right and ended walking into dead ends."

She began to dig through her bag and pulled out a small ceramic bowl and a glass jar filled with silver powder. Placing them on the ground, she then pulled a small cutting knife and cut off a piece of cloth from her white dress. Valentina then walked up to Drake while holding his left hand in hers. He wondered what she was doing until he felt the knife's edge pressing into his palm for a few seconds. She removed her now bloody knife and went back to her bowl while Drake tried to clean the blood off his hand as the wound closed up quickly.

Placing the cloth and bloody knife in the bowl, Valentina uncorked the glass jar and took a pinch of silver powder and placed it in. A plume of gray smoke erupted from the bowl and began to form shapes. It formed a circle, a teardrop and finally what looked like a flower.

" _A_ _ **[Wheel]**_ _, a_ _ **[Slime]**_ _and a_ _ **[Rose]**_ _are the answers that you seek_ " Valentina said in an oddly dead tone while her eyes glazed over. Showing concern, Drake moves to wake her when the smoke dissipates and flows directly into her mouth and nose. When the last wisp entered, Valentina blinked at her sudden daze and began to shake her head from the sudden feeling.

"Are you...alright?"

"Yes...yes I am. Sorry, I never experienced anything like that. Usually when I do that I'm aware of what is happening but now all I saw was a haze. Did I say anything?"

"...A **[Wheel]** was the first thing you said so let's focus on that for the moment" Drake said as he once again unsheathed his sword and went through the door. Not seeing any of the Black Slimes, He looked to see Valentina close the door behind them and took a place a few steps behind him. Casting **[Radiant]** once more and looking at the two directions that he hadn't gone down yet, he began to think of what Valentina said.

' _A_ _ **[Wheel]**_ _...a_ _ **[Wheel]**_ _..._ ' he kept thinking about it as he looked at the ground where the small canal of water kept running. Looking back to the right pathway, he saw the water in the canal flowing towards him. Drake looked to the other paths and saw that only one of the canals water flowed away from his direction.

' _Was she referring to a water wheel?_ ' Drake thought and began to go left to follow the water. When they had to turn a corner, he saw a lone Black Slime bouncing away from their position. He motioned for Valentina to remain where she was while he took care of it. After the same process as before, he had to slice the monster in half and continue attacking it while it tried to regenerate. This routine continued for around an hour and during that time Drake had slain 14 Black Slimes from which he had gotten; [ **2,436 Exp], [7 Gold], [2 Black Gel Poisons]** and **[6 Small Mana Crystals]** from his battles.

When the last Slime was killed, Drake and Valentina made another turn and came to a new change; a staircase leading further down. Looking at the canal, the water was flowing in a downward slope. climbing down the stairs wasn't an issue but it would prove to be a challenge if Drake had to fight on uneven ground and Valentina had no cover to hide in. when they reached the bottom of the staircase, the room opened up to a space that could rival the plaza in Farebury.

The room was circular with arches on the walls pouring water into the room. The floor was a pool where the falling water gathered and in the center was a circular stone landing with a statue in its center. Making a few more **[Radiant]** spells to get a closer look, Drake sent them over to the landing and saw a few circular platforms just below the water's surface. Testing them out, he placed his foot slowly into the water and felt the platform before the water even reached his ankles. Helping Valentina over, they looked for any more platforms but found no more except for the ones that the used.

"Well, we got farther than I thought but I still haven't seen anything that resembles a **[Wheel]** " Drake said as he moved one of the **[Radiant]** orbs to fly past one of the waterfalls to see if there was a path behind them. When his guide didn't reply, he looked back to see Valentina was looking at the statue.

Moving up next to her, he got a better look at it. The statue was male from the beard and physique at first glance. It was made out of marble from its clothes and base. The odd thing about the statue was that it had wings on its back that were spread open as if to take flight. The other oddity was that the statue was holding its hands outward in a peculiar fashion while on its open palm was a bronze button of setting the marble.

"This place wasn't anything like what I saw as a child. Everything here should be older than the city but it's still working like it was fixed yesterday" Valentina spoke as kneeled down to see what was written on the bronze plate. Moving slightly away to let some light through, Drake could see what was written.

* * *

 **Guardian of Farebury, Sebastian**

 **May the waters run ever pure for all**

* * *

"Sebastian, isn't that the name for the church in the second tier?"

"Yes it is" Valentina said softly as she still looked at the plate suspiciously. Looking back at the button in the statues palm, Drake pushed it to see what would happen.

 ***CLICK***

"AHHH!" Drake reacted quickly to Valentina's scream by drawing his sword and looking for the imminent danger. All he saw was that she fell on her rear from the hole that opened up in the floor and a thick disk with ridged edges slowly coming up. The disk stayed there for a few seconds before falling back into the floor and the stone tile sliding back into place. Lower his weapon, Drake let out a sigh of relief and fell to the ground.

"...ha ha...Well, at least we found the **[Wheel]** " Drake said as he brought his head to rest on his knee to allow his eyes to rest. He felt some movement from his shoulder and assumed it was Munchie stretching his legs as the mouse tumbled off and ran to the statue. Tilting his head to see where the mouse was going, Drake saw that his pet was just looking up at the statue.

All three of them remained in blissful silence, listening to the artificial waterfalls as they tried to think of what to do next. After 10 minutes of rest, Drake got up and began to remove his sheath and boots. Valentina was looking at him when her cheeks began to heat up as he removed his shirt and promptly turned around to give him some privacy.

"M-may I ask w-what you are doing?!"

"I'm going to have a look beneath the water to see if there is another way through. We can't stay here for long as I don't know when those Black Slimes will decide to fall out of the ceiling" Drake said as he folded his shirt, placing it next to his equipment and rolled up his pant legs to his knees. Once done, He motioned one of floating orbs of light to land on his palm.

* * *

 **For thinking ahead and preparing thyself to explore the unknown, your INT has increased by 1**

* * *

Closing the window, Drake lowered his body to adjust to the waters temperature. Taking in one more breath of air, he dived into the water. Looking around, the landing that he was on was actually a massive pillar reaching the bottom of the pool. Moving the light around, Drake could see that there were more water wheels underneath the waterfalls and some closed iron grates further below them.

' _So is this entire room is a giant filter? The Water goes through the grates lowering the water level to move the wheels, but what do they move..._ ' he thought while swimming back up to the surface for air. Breaking the surface, Drake moves towards the landing to see his guide sitting next to his equipment with Munchie sleeping on her lap.

"Did you find anything?" she asked while stroking the mouse's soft fur.

"From what I could see, there are several water wheels below that can only be turned with the waterfalls. To get them turning, we have to lower the water level which I assume has something to do with that statue. So I'm going to take another look to see if the missing piece is either down here or somewhere back above."

After that, Drake continued to swim as deep as he could for thirty minutes before having to swim back up for air. Every time he would go back to search, he would be able to move a little faster and hold his breath a little longer. When he finally reached the bottom, he moved the light around for anything that stands out but found nothing. Swimming back to the top again, he saw that Valentina decided to get some sleep.

"Alright, one more time before I check above. **[Radiant Stellae]** **Scatter!** " the spell appeared and divided into multiple orbs before they began to descend into the water. Diving again, Drake followed the trail of light to the bottom once more until they moved to the pillar itself. Swimming quickly to where the spell was leading him, he was lead to a small pile of brass objects hidden in a niche along the pillar. Seeing the orbs where clinging to a gaudy pitcher, Drake took it in his hand and swam back up just as his timer ran out.

 ***SPLASH***

"GASP..." taking a moment to rest as he puts the pitcher over to the side and exiting out of the water to warm himself up. Taking several minutes to raise his body temperature, he put his equipment and clothes back on before examining what he found. He picked up the vase to see that it had; a long neck, single handle and no flat bottom. Walking over to the Statue, Drake looked to the hands stretched out and back to the pitcher before placing it in.

 ***CLICK***

The disk came out again but this time it didn't go back after a few seconds. Instead, a single stream of water was flowing out of the pitchers neck and falling on top of the disks edge. Slowly it began to move.

 ***CLANG**CLANG**CLANG***

The sound of metal was clanging against each other echoed across the room loud enough to startle both Valentina and Munchie awake. The waters level began to form whirlpools and descend to reveal the large brass water wheels as the waterfalls hitting them began to move. The entrance that we used to enter the room now had a stone wall sliding sideways, closing our way out.

"Whets happening?!" Valentina screamed as the landing they were standing on began to rotate clockwise. The room began to move in the same direction when the pillar started to rise towards the ceiling. Looking up, Drake moved the **[Radiant]** orbs to fly upwards and saw that another entrance was opening up.

"So that's where it was. No wonder we couldn't find another way out, we couldn't get to it."

Waiting a few minutes for the lift to reach its apex, Drake drew his sword once they were close to the new entrance. When the lift stopped, a series of clinking sounds appeared in the room which forced a door to partially open in front of them. Moving in front, he looked through the door to see a long hallway. Opening it fully, Drake sent **[Radiant]** down to see how far it went. Surprisingly, it continued to fly forwards and vanished into the dark abyss.

"Well...let's get moving and see where this takes us."

 **-1 Hour Later-**

After taking a short break in the never ending hallway, they continued on their way but with every step sent a wave of dread through him. He had yet to see any Slimes since they began walking and it was starting to gnaw at him. I wasn't as bad as when he had run into Dhoulmagus by accident at the castle but it was slowly reaching up to that point.

With the silence eating away at them, Valentina and Drake came onto a large iron door that took up the entire wall of the dead end. Now that feeling from before was clutching in his chest and squeezing at his heart. His breathing had become ragged as images of his 'death' kept flashing in his head.

 ***CLAP***

Blinking away the images and the sudden dull pain on his cheeks, Drake looked up to see that Valentina had clapped both hands on the sides of his face with a determined gaze.

"I...I don't know what ails you but know that it is alright to feel that way. Allot has happened to you, that much I can put together, and it weighs on you. I can't tell you to forget about them because it hurts to remember but remember that every experience has some good to it. While others may not see it, you can."

Giving her his undivided attention, Drake closes his eyes to process her words. When he pictured Medea giving him a lecture about a similar situation but having the same lecture given back to her by her father brought a small smile out. Drakes' breathing was coming back to a steady pace and that feeling of dread was still there but lessened considerably.

* * *

 **For listening to another's concern for you and heeding them, your WIS has increased by 1!**

* * *

"...thank you, Valentina"

"You're welcome."

Getting off the ground, Drake made his way to the door and began to push it open. The room was similar to the wells entrance except the room wasn't filled with water except for the small pond in the center. Feeling the walls with his fingers, Drake determined that the entire room was filled with water not too long ago. On the other side of the room was a wooden door. Once they walked inside, the iron door behind them quickly shut closed.

Scanning the room once more, Drake didn't see anything that would give any monster a hiding place but that dread feeling was still lingering. He moved slowly towards the center while gazing up at the empty ceiling.

 ***CLICK***

At the sound, Drake turned around and pushed Valentina as hard as he could when black spears shot up from the ground.

* * *

 **-23 HP**

 **177/210 HP**

* * *

Drawing his blade with his now bloody hand, he looked over to see that Valentina was still knocked down. He couldn't move until it revealed itself, but if this monster was ambushing tactic then they would be here for some time. Unfortunately, Drake was wrong as black substance began to ooze its way out of the stone tile. The slime began to gather in one spot on the opposite side of the room until it became the size of a horse. Then it began to extend its body outwards and rolling back into itself like molding clay. Drake cast an **[Observe]** to see what this slime is.

* * *

 **Boss: Black Slime Clone - Failed Experiment #314 - HPR - Lv 35 - Rank C**

* * *

' _Clone? Experiment? What go-!?_ ' He tried to think of an answer when his hand brought down his sword to cut down a black tentacle speeding right towards him. The attack had only sliced it down the middle before it retreated back to its body. Looking at the new body, Drake now knew why he kept feeling dread.

The Slime Clones body was an exact mirror image of himself. Its entire body is the same color as the other slimes but the detail to the clothes and face was on point, even his ears were frilled. What Drake thought was a tentacle was in fact its left arm stretching and repairing itself. Flexing its fingers at the repaired arm, the Clone threw its arm forward and it stretched towards him.

Not wanting to be skewered, Drake moved to the left to cut the appendage off as it flew past him. As he saw the arm move past him and brought his sword down, its skin began to bubble like boiled water. The next thing he saw was the bumps shooting out tendrils and heading straight at his chest. Seeing this, Drake tried to dodge but was unsuccessful as two of the tendrils had embedded into his right shoulder and bicep.

* * *

 **-20 HP**

 **162/210 HP**

 **Bleeding Status Engaged: -2 HP per Minute**

* * *

Severing the connection, he felt the slime ooze out of the wound as well as a small amount of blood. Drake looked at the Clone to see that it was throwing its arm at him again. Not waiting, he took a running start and headed towards the Slime. Moving his sword at an angle, Drake was able to get his sword into the arm and continued his running as the wound was growing larger the closer he got. He pulled out the blade and sliced of half of the bisected arm.

The Clone seeing its left arm not moving through its right arm, Drake saw the attack and dropped low to the ground when it was close enough. Once the arm had sailed over he continued to run until Drake was only a three feet away. Positioning his blade, he performed a thrust into the Clones torso. When he felt resistance of the blade trying to go further, Drake tried to move the blade into a slashing formation but couldn't.

The blade was stuck and wouldn't budge. Seeing the Slime's torso bubbling, Drake let go of his weapon to jump back and avoid the attack. Though he managed to avoid most, several were able to land.

* * *

 **-50 HP**

 **118/210 HP**

 **Bleeding Status Engaged: -7 HP**

* * *

One in his left arm, another in the hip and the last two punctured his left thigh. Panting, Drake saw that his weapon was still in the Slime and that even he couldn't pull it out. Taking what small reprieve he could get, Drake began to think of another way to kill this monster.

' _Okay, it pretty much makes all physical attacks that aren't bladed or have enough power behind it null. Magic practically does nothing and I don't have another weapon._ ' Looking that the Clone's right left arm had begun to regenerate and tried to pull the blade out with great difficulty by pressing on the hilt.

' _Why is it more focused on the blade than me? Shouldn't I be the more imminent threat unless..._ ' Drake got up after catching his breath and ran back to the Clone. Seeing movement, the Slime let go of the handle and threw its right arm towards Drake. Side stepping the attack, he kept up the pace until he was in front of the blade. Grabbing the blade itself, Drake shouted out the only attack spell he knew. " **[RAI]!** " he shouted as runes were soaring from his hand to the blade and began to shoot off lightning.

* * *

 **-45 HP**

 **67/210 HP**

 **A new Skill has been created through a unique action! You have learned the skill [Lightning Slash]!**

 **Lightning Slash: Lv 1. Next Lv 1/100.** A skill that coats your blade in mana while simultaneously converting the mana into electricity. **25 MP per minute**

 **INT + (Lv x (1/2) ATK) = Total Damage**

 **20% Increase in Piercing Power**

* * *

Drakes hand had gone numb and his entire arm was twitching. Looking at the Clone, he saw multiple sparks were flowing across the open wound that the sword made. Seeing as the sword was now free, he picked it up with his only available hand and jumped back in case it decided to attack. Seeing the Slime still in the same position but slowly regenerating, he brought up his **[Status]** and began to pour all of his points into **INT**.

* * *

 **A skill has been given for reaching 50 Intelligence! The [Divine Body] Skill has created the [Lesser Mana Core] Skill!**

 **Lesser Mana Core: Lv Max.** A crystal embedded within you that has lain dormant since birth. This allows the user to become more sensitive to mana and to handle it better.

 **Increase MP gain to +7 per level**

 **10% Increase to Magic Attack**

 **10% Increase to Magic Defense**

 **Increase MPR gain to 10 WIS = 2%**

* * *

Drake felt his chest tighten up and experience warmth near his heart. Was this where the **[Lesser Mana Core]** was located or is it just adrenaline, he couldn't tell. Steadying his breath, Drake activated the **[Lightning Slash]** skill as he was now fighting against the clock with the **[Bleeding]** effect. The ring of runes appeared surrounding the hilt before moving into the blade. A pale blue light emitted from it as stray sparks of flying off it, hitting the ground and leaving small scorch marks.

Grabbing the handle with both hands, he took a step at a time to make sure if his last attack did anything to his legs. Not feeling any different, Drake picked up the pace and was running as fast as he could when the Clone finally regenerated enough to close the previous wound. The Slime began to throw both arms in succession to hit its target.

Drake brought his sword at an angle automatically when the first fist came close and twisted the blade to the side in order to slash at the next arm. He was able to cut off the appendages in three sections before standing in front of the Clone. Seeing the skin bubbling, Drake was able to dodge all of them this time and began to slash at its torso. He kept slashing to try and get ahead of the monsters healing ability.

' _Up, Diagonal, Dodge, Horizontal, Parry, Diagonal, Down, Block..._ ' Drake kept up with this pace until the Clone had stopped moving. It looked like jam thrown across the floor when the jar broke with the head and torso still intact, mostly. The portions of its body weren't moving back to its host but instead began to emit light particles.

* * *

 **Congratulations!**

 **You have defeated the 'Failed Experiment # 314' in the Underground Waterway Dungeon!**

 **42/210 HP 158/420 MP**

 **Exp 4,500 +1800 Gold**

 **Your Level has Increased by 1**

* * *

Seeing the window, Drake dropped his sword and fell to the ground on his knees. His lungs trying to inhale as much air as they could but kept coming up short. He just sat there watching the particles of light float to the ceiling. Looking down, Drake saw a few items just laying there. Casting an **[Observe]** and putting them in his **[Inventory]** for later use as he still needed to get out to look for Yangus, King Trode and Medea.

* * *

 **Skill Book - Bind.** A skill to bind an enemy in a ring made of mana. Since it made of mana it can even affect objects or creatures of indeterminable form. Can only be used by those who have a talent in manipulating mana.

 **Black Gel Glove - Accessory.** A glove made by soaking a leather glove in Black Gel for an extended period of time. **2% of Magic Defense**

 ***Research Notes # 7.** Without the key, the words are non-legible.

* * *

Hearing foot steps behind him, he tried to get off the ground but a small hand landed on his shoulders, pushing him back down. Looking over his shoulder, he could she Valentina was rummaging through her bag while trying to hold him in place. Not that it was hard for her as Drake couldn't move his legs even if he wanted to.

"Before we even try to leave, allow me to at least stop the bleeding" she said that while removing a small wooden box and cloth from her bag. Letting her do what she wanted, Drake took this time to get some rest. After 10 minutes and using what was left of his shirt to bind the herbs over his wounds, they walked over to the wooden door.

When Valentina opened it, streams of light made their way through the seam. Taking but a moment for their eyes to adjust, she continued to open the door. What lay beyond the door was only a circular room of 10 feet in diameter. In the center of the room was a bucket used for drawing water and rope leading up to where the light is. But none of that mattered to Drake as he kept staring at the far side of the room, where giant thorns were crossing against each other in an unorthodox manner.

Following the thorns trajectory, he saw several of the thorns punctured through the stone above them. Drake now understood what the **[Rose]** meant.

"Dear Goddess..."

 **-Duke Gavan's Manor 7:29 A.M.-**

"-rrently having a third of the armed forces searching for the one who destroyed the South Gate in the Eastern Forrest and the 4th Battalion is removing what remains of the gate as we speak. We are still searching for the Ayakashi throughout the city but have yet heard any sightings in the last few hours. Your orders, my Lord?" A soldier wearing decorated armor stood in front of a well light room overlooking the darkened city as cloud cover continued to obscure the morning light from last night's rain.

In front of the window was a man in his mid twenties wearing a black coat slung over his shoulder and a red button up shirt, both articles of clothing lined with golden fabric. He wears a plain white pants, the lower half covered by his long leather boots. Turning around, the soldier could see his lord's honey colored eyes staring straight through him like what he said was of no importance. The man before him was none other than Duke Gavan's only heir and son Marscal of House Orléans.

"Call off the search for the Ayakashi for the moment and have our soldiers focused on securing the South gate. Send a messenger to the acting captain chasing the culprit to reinforce Fort Jalori. When these two orders have been carried out, begin a search throughout the surrounding villages. If you can bring them back alive would be best course of action but I understand if the matter becomes complicated." the dirty blond lord spoke in a bored tone while casting his gaze away from the soldier to look at the paperwork on his desk.

"At once, your Grace" was all the Soldier said as he kneeled down and left the room. Looking over one of the reports, Marscal's composed face began to show a small frown as he got to the end of the report.

"Of course everything falls out of place when he's not here. Now production will come to a standstill for some time till the researchers can decipher his notes. Even dead you still cause nothing but problems for my family. Puisse-tu brûle en l'enfer*, Rylus" the noble muttered to himself as he tosses the file into a waste basket near him. Picking up reports that he received late last night describing the actions of his scouting unit he sent out several days ago to inspect what kind of damage the earthquake may have caused. Everything within the east and south was fine except for a few landslides that could be cleared within weeks.

The only report that he did not receive was the unit that he sent into Trodain as an 'escort'. Looking over to the sides of his desk to see if one of the servants screwed up and placed it in another pile or that there was no report, Marscal came to the conclusion that the report was never sent which could cause a few complication if Trodain decides to act. Looking to the right of his desk was a Marble chess set with matching pieces. The pieces have been arranged for the start of a new game should Masrcal ever have a guest.

"Either they have been detained by Trode's forces or that Jester decided to remove them from service. Ah well, this will make things more interesting to say the least" he said as he picked up a white pawn and moved it to the space in front of it, beginning a new game.

 **-0-**

 ***May you Burn in hell**

 **A/N: Not sure when I will have the next chapter up but will keep going. Would love to hear some new ideas for skills for Sword/Spear or anything you all can think of. Happy Independence Day 2017!**

 **Name: Eldrake ?**

 **Age: 19 Race: Human/?**

 **Class: Soldier/Lancer**

 **Title: Pariah of Humanity**

 **Level: 8 Next Level: 3,259/5000**

 **HP: 48/210 HPR: 5.6 per min**

 **MP: 158/420 MPR: 6 per min**

 **Strength: 31 (-10) = 21 Vitality: 24 (-10) = 14 Dexterity: 18**

 **Intelligence: 52 (+8) = 60 Wisdom: 29 (+2) = 31**

 **Luck: 15**

 **Points: 5 PAS: 8**

 **Money** : 1810 Gold, 69 Silver, 27 Copper

 **Skills: [Divine Body Lv Max] [Cleaning/Washing Lv Max] [Lesser Mana Core Lv Max] [Cartography Lv 6] [Tactics/Strategy Lv 18] [Politics/Diplomacy Lv 12] [Human Language Lv Max] [? Language Lv Max] [Basic Cooking Lv 8] [Botany/Harvesting Lv 4] [Bartering Lv 9] [Stealth Lv 4] [Hearing Lv 7] [Swimming Lv 6] [Lightning Slash Lv 3]**


End file.
